Christmas Season

Giving God thanks for all His many blessings and favour He has put in my life!

When I think of the Christmas season, I think of snow, Christmas in Australia is a little bit different. First there is NO snow. This is my third Christmas here and I still haven't got used to Christmas season here, where you wear shorts and go to a beach. (This is what most Australians do during the summer. Its summer here now!) We have Christmas trees in stores and malls and some have fake snow!

It still does not feel like Christmas, as I am used to snow and cold. But I guess a day at the beach in December can't be a bad thing!

Be Blessed. (Here are some pictures of Christmas in the city of Melbourne)

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas! May the Love of God extend into your family and His peace radiate your life, and your family
May God Bless you all!

Isa 9:6 - 7 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of [his] government and peace [there shall be] no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

We gives thanks for Him, Our Great and Glorious King

Thought for Today

How high you desire to grow in God is first determined by how deep your roots are.

Giving Thanks!

Therefore will I give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the heathen, and sing praises unto thy name. Psalm 18:49

The other day I was a bit early into the city, so I sat on a bench and meditated on the provision of the Lord. I am so grateful for what He has done and is continuing to do in my life. There are so many things that I can be thankful for. I looked out to the city from my bench and let the Lord begin to speak to me. We had an awesome time of fellowship on the bench. I am so grateful and privileged to know Him. He is an awesome father, friend, comforter and so much more than I can say. My wife and I are blessed beyond measure by His faithfulness

(I took some photos of the city from my bench and of Parliament House)

Psa 79:13 So we thy people and sheep of thy pasture will give thee thanks for ever: we will shew forth thy praise to all generations.

We love you Lord Jesus!

Thought for Today

How much you grow in God is not in God's hands but yours!

God is love (Part 2)

Part 1 is Here (If you have not read it yet)

Have you ever tried to like someone you dislike with a passion? Say a co-worker who just bothers you and has been the bane of your existence. And as a good Christian you try to love them, to do good to them. But they do something and your anger boils and you are so annoyed you almost loose your peace?

When people view God in this same negative light there are lot of antagonistic feelings that come into play. If they blame him for things, the loss of a loved one, the loss of a job, a trial they are going through, or a painful situation that has scarred them they run the gambit of mixed emotions It his hard to reconcile these feelings of love/hate in your heart when you develop this view of God.

The Psalms offer so much help in this area. The psalmists are genuine in their expressions to God in their anguish and pain, in hurt and frustration. The Psalms have always been a haven of comfort in time of my trials and pain. I connect with the writers as they cry and call on God.

For example in one place he declares “From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock [that] is higher than I.” Psalm 61;2

In another place the psalmist says “Attend unto my cry; for I am brought very low: deliver me from my persecutors; for they are stronger than I.” Psalm 142:6.

You can feel the author’s pain and anguish. But the key thing in all the Psalms is that no matter what place of pain or suffering the author started at, they always end at a place of victory, declaring the God of their victory! His joy comes into them. He is the God that heals them and restores them; They always end up giving him praise!

I remember when I was going through my anguish at the loss of my grandmother; I often turned to the Psalms for comfort as the Lord ministered through them to my spirit. I also recall the voice of the Lord speaking to me. He began to show me a new thing. He took me to Psalm 116:15 Precious in the sight of the LORD [is] the death of his saints.

He said that each person is precious and He knows how that separation from one another causes so much pain. He feels it too. He comes to comfort the one who is broken. Here is the key thing He said. You have to experience the pain of this separation because nothing here lasts forever. No matter how much love you have it cannot keep anything here forever. It must pass.

There is a reason for this. Death is the ultimate end in this world, but it is not THE end. It teaches us that we cannot reply and hope for permanence in this place. The bible says we are strangers in this place we are just passing through. Too often we want to build permeant structures in temporary places. We wanted to put roots into unstable ground. We want to build on shifting sands.

God continued revealing things to me. He said the only permeant thing in this universe is Himself. Heaven and earth will pass away. Family and friends will come into our life and pass away. Jobs, houses, cars and life will ultimately end. But He will not. He said “I am the only thing that will be with you now and tomorrow and forever” Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.

“It is to show you that you cannot have a permeant relationship with anything in this world but Me! I will never fail. I will never leave you. I will never turn you away in anger. I will keep you safe and even death cannot separate you and me. You might not see your earthly family again in this time. But you can always see me!”

I began to see what He was impressing upon with. God is the only solid rock we can build on. We must build on this, the rock of Jesus Christ. Everything else will fail and pass away but not him! His love will never fail or pass away. I cannot accurately convey to you what God showed me. The medium of words cannot convey what God impresses on you through the spirit. It is a dull shadow of what He showed me. But I hope I have shown you in some small capacity what He showed me.

I began to know the joy of the Lord and His grace more and more. Even though I was in pain from the anguish in my heart, from the loss of my grandmother, I had the joy of the Lord in my Spirit. His joy has always been there with me!

It is an encouraging though that God is our refugee and our strength! It is in Him we need to build our lives not on temporary things. We must love our parents, our children, our neighbours and friends, but we cannot build our lives on them or around them, for when they fail we will fail and all we have build around them will come crashing down. However, if we build on Jesus, he will never fail, other things around us might come down and fail but He never will. He is our stability and the only sure unmovable thing in this world, that is always moving and changing. If we cling to Him first and foremost, we can never stumble and fall. He is love! And He loves us with an everlasting love that cannot and will not fail.

Praise you in the Storm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bo2nJr7JHsI

-Great Song by Casting Crowns . A song for the trials of our lives. It goes to what I'm talking about in the post below

God of Love (Part 1)

Last week I heard two people say that “They hated God!” Now I am not talking about people who don’t believe in God, atheists or people of another faith or belief. I am talking about Christians, who say they are followers of Christ. They go to church, sing songs, even preach. To clarify the situation, they were both talking about a similar situation that had occurred in their life. They had both lost loved ones, who were very close to them and their response to this situation was anger towards God for taking that loved one from them, and they are still trying to recover from this ordeal.

I don’t mean to judge anyone or even claim to have an understanding as to what they feel. However, I too have had someone close me pass away. My grandmother was someone very special to me. I could talk to her about anything and she was always there to encourage me and listen to me and love, me no matter what state I was in. She passed away suddenly of a heart attack. We were on the way home and we got a call that she had collapsed. We rushed over to my mother’s house; the paramedics were still in the room when we got there. I remember standing downstairs as they did not want anyone inside the room and talking to God. I made no threats or promises to Him, No “if you keep her alive, I will do this and that.” I simply said “Lord you know what’s best!”

A few seconds later the heavy boots of the paramedic came out of the room. I knew in my spirit what he was going to say already. I sensed God telling me. The paramedic said they had tried but she was gone.

Tears streamed down my face, I was not ready for her to go. I was still to get married at the time, and I knew how eagerly she was waiting for that. I needed her to be there and to see that and to be part of my celebration, I wanted to tell her how much she meant to me and how much I needed her. But it was all gone now.

I did not feel angry towards God, but right there in a pain, I have never felt before or since I began to say “Thank you” to God. I began to thank Him for blessing me with such a wonderful grandmother. To thank him for the years we had together. To thank him for her guidance and her love. To thank him, for her presence in my life. It hurt so much to loose her, but I was grateful to God for the privilege of knowing such a wonderful person. The pain was so intense in my heart. It still is, I am choking backing tears as I write this and it’s been almost three years!

God is good and even at that time of pain I felt His comfort and presence. He taught me something through it. Even in that pain I was grateful to Him. I know what it feels like to loose someone close and experience the awful pain of separation. The suddenness of it all. The emptiness left after that person has gone.

I understand the loss of a loved one. In this place of pain we are filled with all sorts of emotions. But when I hear someone say they “hated” God, when this experience has occurred, makes me feel a little perplexed. I can see why they would say it, but I cannot understand their logic, or feel that way towards Him. God is love (1 John 4: 8,16) There is not hatred in him.

It seems that they are blaming Him for their loss, like He was willfully depriving them of someone precious in their lives. Like He is a wicked vengeful selfish God, who takes pleasure in removing from us the loved ones in our life. There is a reason I think we have this perceptive.

I believe that this stems from a place of the value system we have in our lives. So often in life we place value on so many things. We value our family and our husband and wife, which is right to do, but where is our value for God? Is He on the same level or lower? When we value the things we are given more than the one who gave them our “value system “ is thrown out of balance. We can then form ideas, thoughts and feelings that are not correct. If I place value on my child more than God, If something were to happen, I would turn around and say to God, ‘How could you do this? Take my daughter away. I hate you!”

Our perception is that God is out to take away the things that we value and are important to us. Nothing could be further from the truth. God wants to bless us with the best of everything and a full life. He came to give us life and life more abundant!

Our life however can be thrown out of balance when we begin to prioritize things in the wrong way. Listen to the words of Jesus found in Luke 14:26 “If any [man] come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.”

It might appear at first that these are hard words, He even says we must hate our family! Before we jump to rash conclusions let us try to understand what Jesus is talking about. Let’s examine a more contemporary translation:

The message says:.
"Anyone who comes to me but refuses to let go of father, mother, spouse, children, brothers, sisters - yes, even one's own self! - can't be my disciple.

The Amplified Bible:

If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his [own] father and mother [in the sense of indifference to or relative disregard for them in comparison with his attitude toward God] and [likewise] his wife and children and brothers and sisters--[yes] and even his own life also--he cannot be My disciple.

What Jesus is talking about here is the “Value” we place on Him in comparison to others. Value is something that has worth to it. It’s of importance to us! So in other words: who do we esteem the most in our lives. If we place value on other people or things more than God we CANNOT be a disciple. Hard words but true!

Why? Because our focus or attention our time will be given to the things that is worth the most to us! Jesus is saying that our value of other things in comparison to God must be so far apart that or love for others must look like hate when it come to God!

I hope you understand what I’m trying to say. Jesus is NOT saying we must hate our parents or siblings, but He is saying that our love for them, as great as it is, in light of our love for God, must appear to look small

He is not even diminishing our love for family. He is saying that as much as you love your family, your love for God should surmount that. It must be like a might flood that consumes everything else and make every little pond and river look small in comparison.

Therefore, when we understand this and value is placed in the correct place. We will not have the kind of ideas that run rampant when our emotions are involved.

I loved my Grandmother, but I love God more, I love my wife but I love God more. I cannot hate God for He provided me with a great relationship and someone to guide me. I thank him for the time I have been given. I appreciate His blessings. However when what that love is gone, I still haven’t lost the greatest love of all, and that is Him! When I place the value of God in the right place I understand His blessings and His promises and I therefore can thank Him and not hate him when my loved one is gone.

(Part 2 will be posted next week containing a revelation God showed me in the midst of my pain. Also, how do we see God when we begin to hate Him and know we have to love Him, what does that do to us?)

Thought for today

Its not what you say to God that can keep you seperated from Him, but what you DO NOT say!

Faith Works!

I am trying my faith, more accurately, I am exercising it! I am believing God for something, and like all of us, I have a hope that it will come to pass. However, I am not waiting to see if it will come to pass before I move. I have already moved to expect the result, preparing for it to come to pass. Let me illustrate it like this: I once heard a story that accurately conveys what I am trying to say.

"There were two farmers who prayed for rain in a drought stricken land. The first farmer would get up early and look to the skies to see if there was any sign of rain. The second got up early and ploughed his fields and planted his seed, and prepared it for the rain that he was expecting."

This is what I'm saying I have believed God and I'm starting to plough my field, because I know the rain is coming. This is faith in action. Faith works itself out in my life by the way I act/respond towards it! If I have faith I will act on it based on the sure promise of God. If I don't, ... well, I will wait and see. "If," "maybe", or "let me see" are not words in the book of faith. Faith acts when there is no cloud in the sky that even remotely hints at a sign of rain.

Here is the principle:
You cannot prepare your field when the rain comes, it will be too late then! If you are trusting the Lord for something in your life. Prepare your field now! Don't wait to see it before you move. Move NOW! Prepare, gird up your loins and great ready for the windows of heaven to open and your rain to fall!

Are you waiting like the first farmer to see the rain and then move or are you like the wise farmer who acted on his faith and prepared himself for what God was going to pour into his life

Truth!

I heard a statistic recently (not sure where) that stated that more than 50 % of Christians don’t believe in absolute truth. To me that was a bit shocking. Why?
Because it seems that the very word “Christian” means follower of Christ. And if I am a follower of Christ then I must at least believe in what he stands for, His values and ideologies. In His own words He says: "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." (John 14:6)

Now if I profess that I am a Christian, how do I justify that fact that Jesus declares He is truth, yet I am not certain of this. Are they believers of Christ?

The underlying problem stems from the fact most people who profess they are Christians don’t know Christ!. They know OF Him, who He was as a historical figure, but not on a personal level. For if they did and they stood for what He stood, Truth is not shades of grey but a foundation established in Christ Jesus. The world looks at Christians as weak and ineffective. Can you blame them? We don’t even believe in what the we preach!

Sadly it’s the Christians who need to know God before we take on causes and think we are doing God’s work! Before we try to speak for Christ, let us find out what He ACTUALLY says about things, and not what we think we should say, or believe or even what we were taught. What does Christ say about the issues? Do we know? Or is our culture and lifestyle, our own personal wants and needs packaged under the guise of a Christian voice?

For one, Christ, or his disciples or apostles never referred to themselves as “Christians”. Look in the bible for yourself if you don’t believe me. But we are called
Ambassadors and saints. (Pagans at Antioch called us Christians; Acts 11:26)

An Ambassador never has his own agenda, or his own voice, or opinion. He is responsible for communicating his countries ideas, standards, laws and values to others. When he performs his position according to his duty, he becomes a voice for his country. A voice of a nation that is not present to a people who want to know who he represents.

When they asked John the Baptist who he was, his response was “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness…”(John 1:23) Perhaps instead of trying to voice our opinions and our ideas on how things should or should not be. Maybe we can be ambassadors, expressing or giving voice to what our we are called to be: A voice, speaking the values of our kingdom, and our King.

We do have a kingdom, a heavenly kingdom and our King is Jesus Christ!
Let us represent him in this earth! Let us represent truth in its entirety

What is truth?
John 17:17 ...thy word is truth!

Found in Him!

So often in life we think that when we do "good" we are OK. One of the biggest obstacles of the cross is not only evil but self-righteousness. By it countless men are lead astray and many more worship at its throne. When Adam took the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen 2:9) it was not just sin that entered in him, but self righteousness as well. It came from the “good” part of the fruit. Because of it man sees himself as basically “good” with no need for redemption. Paul was on this road of self righteousness when he met Stephen (Acts 7). When faced with the view that redemption came from Jesus, his self righteous rose up in opposition to this and it produced pride and destruction. Yes self-righteous is that thing that keeps telling us that we don’t need the sacrifice of a saviour. Look what it did to Saul.

However, when Saul (later to be called Paul) encountered truth, he lay down all his own righteousness, comparing it to dung and he picked up that which is called Christ. He now says “And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.”( Phil 3:9)

All our “good” is like filthy rags in the sight of God. Only when we are in Christ, having nothing of our own, but having His righteousness surround us, become the very essence of who we are, not with superficiality or pretence, but a genuineness that says there is nothing good in me, even the idea is a falsehood, therefore I know I need that which Christ is to come to me. Let His fullness fill my lack. Let Him wash over me, that this man might be submerged in that flow, never arising again by my means, but always being found in Him!

My desire, our desire should be the same heart cry as Paul, not having any of my own righteousness which is of good deeds, my ideas, my generosity, my charity, my kindness, which inflates my own righteousness and ultimately leads me further from God. But let the righteousness that is in me be of God by faith. Let my will be lost and Christ’s will be found in me!

Praise Rise Conference

Praise Rise Conference was great- Awesome move of God. There were many healings and transformations- Lives impacted and changed!

Conference Wrap Up

The Conference was amazing! On Saturday we had a concert and the presence of God was so think in the atmosphere. We had a few healing, and deliverance's! People were at the altar crying out to God and many people were touched and filled with the Holy Ghost!

Sunday was just unexplainable. You had to be there! Worship was great! Both services experienced the outpouring of the Spirit and people were just covered under the anointing of God.

We give thanks to Minister O'Neil Watson from Toronto and
Pastor Richard Nassif from Sydney. Two mighty men of God who ministered in the conference

Fish Tanks!

The Lord reminded me of something that had happened years ago when I was a little child. A lesson He wanted to show me. I was talking to Him about how sometimes situations in life are hard to go through and there are some points when it seems especially hard. He impressed upon me an image and an explanation:

When I was about ten we used to have a fish tank, where we had a number of beautiful fish. I remember sitting numerous times and watching the fish. It was very relaxing and mesmerising. The flash of silver and gold scales as light flashed of them. The jet black of others with streaming colourful tails that seemed to fly, like a flag in a strong wind. I really enjoyed our fish. From time to time, however the tank would need cleaning and the water needed to be changed and the stones washed, glass cleaned, the regular things you do when you need to clean a fish tank.

I remember helping my father or mother do this. We had a bucket of clean water which we would transfer the fish into and then clean the tank, fill it with fresh clean water and put the fish back. We had a little green fishnet that we would catch the fish with. I was fun for me to try to catch them as the dashed around the tank.

It was to this time the Lord took me back. I saw how we caught the fish, and the fish struggled to escape. When I caught one and lifted it out of the tank to transfer it to the bucket, the little fish would jump and trash about violently. I would carefully scoop them up, putting my hand over the fishnet to protect them from accidentally falling on the floor and put them in the bucket. When they were in the bucket they would calm down and a few minutes later they were back to normal. Then we would go through the whole process again of getting them back in the clean tank once it was ready.

The Lord showed me something. He said: the little fish are comfortable in their tank. Even when it gets dirty and mucky they are quite complacent. Sometimes our life is like that, it gets filled with stuff, messy stuff, that clogs us with unnecessary dirt. We stay in the muck because it’s what we know and it’s comfortable. The fish don’t know in that moment you have a plan for them to take them from their current murky water to a place that is clean and fresh. They react with alarm and fear. It is a confusing time for them. The most painful time for them is when they are out of their environment; they are no longer in the water. It‘s something new and scary. It’s unfamiliar territory!

You are just moving them from one place to another, but to them it feels like you are about to kill them. Your perspective is different from theirs. Your plan is to protect them, take care of them and give them something better. At that moment they don’t see that. They are in such fear and dread because they think they are going to die. Yet they are safe in your hands and your aim is to move them from a place that is not good to a place that is better.

The word says: 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. (Jer 29:11 NIV)

The problem is the transition, you think you are being destroyed or you feel like its just to hard, you can't breathe, but I am just moving you from your current environment to a better one.

The little fish struggle and fight but yet you have a great purpose for them. Life is like that when God moves us from one environment that is polluted to a new place (He brought me forth also into a large place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me. Psalm 18:19)

The fish like the new water, and the clean tank but they don’t like the transition. Its uncomfortable and painful, but in the move is a greater purpose. We struggle and fight and think we are about to die, but we are safe in the Masters hands and though it might hurt for a bit, He always has the best in mind for us. It’s the transitions that hurt the most because everything familiar is gone. But it’s only a sign of greater things to come. If in the transitions our perspective is one of expectancy of greater things to come and not the current pain we are in

It’s wonderful to know that God has a great future for us and it starts now!

Sunday Service with Minister O'Neil Watson

Praise and Worship was off the hook on Sunday and we had many healings in the house and deliverance too! I am looking forward to our conference, starting on Saturday with a concert at 5:30 pm

Emmanuel was kind enough to share his photos with me. Here are a few

Breakthrough

As I was walking on our prayer walk and talking to the Lord, the spirit of the Lord was imparting to me. My body began to feel tired but my spirit was willing (the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. Matt 26:41b) He brought to mind the song we sing at church "You are Lord of a breakthrough" and He began to reveal what a breakthrough actually is. When do we get a breakthrough? After we have pushed through past the barrier into uncharted territory

So often in life, as on the walk, you feel like giving up because you become tired, and the enemy will give you a million excuses why you can just give up, BUT we will not experience a breakthrough until we push forward.

There was a woman in the bible who had a problem with her body for many years, (Mark 5) and when she saw Jesus she resolved in herself that she needed to reach Him. She had a number of things against her, she was not supposed to be there. She was not supposed to come close to people because of her condition. She had spent all her money on trying to cure herself but found no relief.

If she allowed these thoughts and her circumstance to consume her, she would not have moved, but she saw an opportunity to breakthrough into a place she believed existed in Christ but had not seen in the natural. She pushed past the crowd and got her breakthrough! The bible says she touched the hem of his garment. I believe the reason she touched his hem was because she was on her hands and knees, she was probably stepped on and kicked and cursed at, but she had her eyes on the prize and she did not let anything distract her from her goal!

I like what the dictionary gives as a definition of a breakthrough: a military movement or advance all the way through and beyond an enemy's front-line defence.

And this is the impression God pressed into me, we have to push through the enemy's defence, even when there is pain or the feeling of complacency. We must not allow our feelings to circumvent our victory. If you need a breakthrough you need to push past the obstacles. Another definition is
an act or instance of removing or surpassing an obstruction or restriction; the overcoming of a stalemate

The walls of Jericho was an obstacle that the children of Israel could not go through, They needed a breakthrough to get into Jericho. In the natural there was no way to get into Jericho. God said continue to walk around.. The first six days nothing happened. No cracks in the wall appeared, no stones crumbled. There was nothing that they could see in the natural that was changed. Their enemy probably mocked them as they walked around the walls and called them names. Then on the seventh day, after the seventh round there was an advancement all the way past the enemy's defences. The original text in Aramic does not just say the wall fell down but it literally sank into the ground! That was a mighty breakthrough!
What had happened? The enemies position was moved back and he lost territory! We see the power of what was already done in the spirit manifest in the natural. It took some effort. It took some faith, it took some pain, but had they stopped on the sixth day because they did not see anything happen in the natural, they would have not experienced what they did.

That is why on my the seventh time around my territory God said don’t pray but Praise! I began to praise God and give him thanks for the victory! And in the spirit He allowed me to see the neighbourhood from above. Around the blocks where we walked I saw trails of light, like a jet leaves in the sky. Light trails that went around the blocks we had walked. Where his children walked they left a trail of light!

In the word in Isa 9:2 The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.
John 1:5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

His light is shining through us, and we beginning to push the enemy back. In our community, our neighbourhoods, our streets and highways, the victory will come forth, but we need to push through, past the enemies defences and take his territory.. But we must push till we see the walls of the enemy come down before us!

thought for today

"Level of communication determines level of relationship"

Promises

I was at a Pastor friend of mine the other day and he shared something with me that is quite though provoking:

He said “Say you need $500 dollars urgently and a friend heard about this and called you and said “I will give you the money, you don’t need to pay it back, just take it, it’s a gift from me to you.”
We would be very happy, perhaps shout “Praise the Lord!” and rejoice that your needs were met. You have not received the money yet and between now and the time you actually get the money anything can happen. Yet you rest peaceful secure in the knowledge that you have the answer to your worries.
But When the same situation would arise and we hear a word from God say for example Phil 4:19 But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
It’s a same promise but even more for he will not fail us. We have to meditate and sometime we say “hmmmmmm that is true. We need to believe God” There is no excitement. We don’t jump up and cry “Praise God! Or Hallelujah” I can rest secure in the knowledge that He will take care of it.
We worry, we stress we try to conceive some way to solve our problems!”

Why? Is God’s promise not good enough for us? Something we cant get excited about? His promises not as sure as a friend? His provision inadequate?

There is so many promises in His word. For healing, for provision, for health, for prosperity, for life!

Why don’t we jump up and get excited about His promises! Sing about them declare them with a voice of triumph!

Building 2

Thanks to all who came out to help with the church extension. It was a great day for it. The weather was great!

More building

Bro Enzo Vs Wall

Results: Bro Enzo 1 Wall 0

The Men came out again to finish the building. Its interesting as we are learning about Nehemiah in bible class "Arise and build" we can see literally what Nehemiah went through be it on a smaller scale

How great is our God?

Listening to some praise and worship music, thinking how great our Lord is. Thoughts cannot contain Him. Minds cannot conceive the vastness of Him.

David tries to, but succumbs with words that say “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, it is high, I cannot attain to it. (Psalm 139:6) When I try to imagine the immenseness of God my mind runs out of space and as much as I can imagine, there is more. But yet He desires that we know him!

Paul hearts cries out with hunger “That I may know him” (Phil 3:10) David’s soul sings “As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.” (Psalm 42:1)

God does not just want us to know Him with head knowledge but with our whole being, to know him in a multi- dimensional level. To know him is to love him. For “ thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength”
Let all of me diminish like John said and let Christ be filled up. Let there be more of Him and less of me. Let my will be consumed with His

Let us, as the Psalmist says “My soul followeth hard after thee”
But not just follow, but be consumed by Him

Declaring Victory

The principle of multiplication in the bible is an amazing thing. It speaks of process: for a thing needs to go through certain amount of change to become something better.
When God created man, He did not create the 7 billion people we have on earth now. He created one, but in that one, He created potential. He created the trees and placed in each plant a seed with the potential for great forests. The seed is the potential. The multiplication comes when potential is brought into reality.

The English dictionary defines POTENTIAL: as capable of being or becoming, Capable of being, but not yet in existence; latent, Having possibility, capability, or power

This is so amazing. It means there is more in me than I presently see, There is a capacity for greater and more, but it has to be brought to fruition.

Faith works the same way. God gives us a measure of faith and the potential for it to move mountains is there already. We need to manifest it, to multiply it.

This relates to all areas of our life. God wants us to have the best of everything and the process is not instant gratification, but learned maturation.

Let us use a real example.
Say I am not experiencing the fullness of God’s power in a certain area, lets say sickness as this is a common thing we all go through.

There are a few substantial things we should now.

1. God has already given us a word of healing.
2. He will bring it to pass, based on our acceptance of it.
3. We must birth it.

So the word of healing in my life has the ability to multiply my faith, as well as ignite my spirit. If I BELIEVE the word, I must have the faith that God will heal.

When I have faith, I need to speak and declare it. Faith is not just belief alone. FAITH needs to be activated by speaking and continuing to do so until the reality of the Word, in the spirit is manifested in the flesh. So in a way it is spiritual multiplication of a seed into the manifestation of the forest in our lives.

See, the healing was always there, it was never in doubt. What has always been the problem is the transference of that reality from the spirit realm to the natural realm. Faith opens the door to this realm. And belief is the bridge that the seed crosses to become the reality in the natural. Most times this bridge is not built by us, we give up too quickly because it does not happen as fast as we want, or our belief cannot accept the reality of the spirit

Why was Jesus so powerful in his ministry? Simple, the word tells us that : Then Jesus answered and said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. "(John 5:19, NKJV)

Jesus when He walked on this earth was so in tune with the spirit that He saw every completed work accomplished in the spirit realm.
He says I cannot do anything by myself. Meaning I don’t initiate any action out of my own will..(will deal with this though later)

But when I see the Father do something in the spirit I know it has already been accomplished in the spirit realm and established as a promise for the natural. It is completed in the Spirit. Then all I do is open this door of faith (Faith can only begin when the will of God is known), build a bridge of belief, and allow this that is already done in the spirit to manifest in this reality by declaring it into this reality. It has to cross the bridge of belief and then arrive in this natural realm. Words are so powerful. They are the vessels of deliverance for good or evil , they are the carriers of power for in them exist the power of life and death. We can manifest from the spiritual realm with them and we can abort the birthing of the promise just as easily by what we declare.

Here Jesus reveals the truth of victory in manifesting the will of God in our lives. (there is so much more here, but we will pause for now)
We must know what the will of God is in every situation, through knowing the Word and being in tune with the spirit. We then declare this truth over our present condition and continue until it aligns with the spiritual realm.

Building

(Bro John and Silvio working hard)


(rain did not stop them! conference time)

(ooops! Sammy pointing out a mistake!)

(more conference time..hmmmm)

We had quite a few men come out to the working bee on Saturday. And then it rained and rained and for good measure it rained again! But the men were undaunted and they set to work with vigour and zeal. Yes, we had a bit of boo boo's. But we were not Tim "the tool man" Taylor! Work would have finished but we had the wrong screws!

We will get it fixed soon. Hopefully ready for F3N! Pastor Sabo and all the men who came did a great job. I am not mechanically inclined so I was just "the go for" and I went for the food..lol

The Daniel fast was done and we could eat some meat. Chicken and chips for lunch. I felt a bit guilty eating the chicken after three weeks of no meat!

Thank you to all the men who came out!

A Birthday Though

This is the day that the Lord has made let us rejoice and be Glad in it!

This day, is another day, but like every day it is far from ordinary.

The night, blackness, with its quiet velvet resolve, wipes the slate clean, and the rising of the sun breathes, and illuminates a spotless, fresh day bathed in rays of light dancing as they filter through leaves, winking on the morning dew. The crisp light, clean, fresh and pure, ushered in by bird song, plays with the day coaxing it awake from its slumber, eyes open, day breaks. Sun rises. The warmth of life pours down, a waterfall of reminiscence of things done, eagerness still of bursting forth.

Each day begins as a new page, a blank page, that you can write whatever you want in your life. The page of today! It has no constraints on it. It is completely blank. Its up to you what you want to write in it.

God breathed His breath in me and I awoke a living soul. Purposed with destiny in me, and ability created in me! I arrived with purpose already given to me. It was purpose that indicated my arrival. In the mind of God I was created to accomplish it. He moved to form because He saw a need, a need that had to be fulfilled. He needed a man who would stand, move and live in Him.

This day I want to renew purpose. Resolve to fulfil the deep thing that lies within me, placed there by the God of creation. This same purpose has been placed in all of us. It is the first thing that was "born" in us. Purpose! It what defines us, its what moulds us and ultimately what completes us. God in us the hope of Glory!

We cannot be who we are created to be if we are not aware of our purpose.
We cannot fulfil who we are if we do not awaken to purpose
We don’t know who we are if we don’t know what our purpose is
We cannot know our purpose if we don’t know God, because He is the author of it

God the great architect, knows our design as David said is Psalms "You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my every thought when far away. You chart the path ahead of me and tell me where to stop and rest. Every moment you know where I am. You know what I am going to say even before I say it, LORD. You both precede and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to know!”

How excellently he describes the Lord in our life and yet he continues: “You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother's womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvellous--and how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. How precious are your thoughts about me, O God! They are innumerable!
I can't even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up in the morning, you are still with me!”

How excellent is your name O Lord!

Today is the first day of the rest of your life. A new day. A day you have never seen before! What will you make of it? What will YOU do with it.?
What will you write on your blank page?
Start writing!

Crowded Tains

I try to read my bible every morning on the train, when I get a seat. Sometimes I feel like a sardine in a can. The train is really packed and I cant even move, so I listen to my I-pod. Good Praise and Worship music makes the train ride less cumbersome.
When I do get a seat, I open my bible, sometimes times people who sit next to me look over and see what I'm reading, a few read over my shoulder. People usually reading over my shoulder slightly annoy me, but when I'm reading my bible I feel joy that, Lord willing something they read will let their heart be open to the prompting of the Lord. In all things let God be praised

Conference details

Praise Raise Conference 2009

Oct 3-4

I am looking forward to a great move of God.

With Anointed men of God

Minister O'Neil Watson

from Toronto Canada

Pastor Richard Nassif

from Sydney

Its going to be a great weekend!

I encourage you to invite all your friends and family

Blessings!

Sunday

The presence of the Lord was surely in this place! We had a great service and people really experienced the presence of the Lord! There was a testimony of healing, God had restored a man to full health after he suffered a stroke. He was in the church praising God, in full health less than a week of coming out of the hospital. God is really an awesome God.

Morning Prayer

Morning Manna this morning at the church was great. There was such a presence of the Lord in the house. A word of prophecy was uttered and a prayer for families was ushered up.
The Lord is very concerned with relationships and paramount in this, is the relationships in a family. A family unit was instituted by God and a good father is a type of the heavenly father.
We must continue praying for families and not just our own. When our own family is strong then our church family is strong, and when the church family is not strong neither is our own family!

The Lord is preparing His bride for a great wedding, let us adorn ourselves with the garment of praise and put a new song on our lips for the ceremony is close at hand. Will we be that spotless bride?

Can we sing?

It is not hard to sing, but sometimes it can be hard to worship. When situations around us don't reflect our moods we find it hard to extract our self, to think externally. When we are not in a place to produce happiness can we still worship? The children of Israel had a similar question:


By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion, We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us [required of us] mirth, [saying], Sing us [one] of the songs of Zion. How shall we sing the LORD'S song in a strange land? (Psalm 137:1-4)


How can we sing when we find ourselves in this place of distress and pain? How do we make a joyful noise? What I have learnt is that even when I am down, when there is pain around, distress around if I can give God the Praise, my focus starts to move from a place of self to the knowledge that there is one who can come in and deliver me. When I sing of my great and awesome God, my heart begins to soar, my body may still be in the same situation but my spirit is in the Lord, And sooner rather than later my mood must follow for it has to align itsself with my Spirit.

I love to worship, I love to sing of the greatness of my God for He has done so very much for me. I could sing of your love forever!

So rather than ask myself "can I sing?" I will concur with King David and say
"I WILL bless the Lord at all times!"

I will praise him! My feelings have nothing to do with the desire of my heart, in fact my feelings must follow my spirit. I will soar with my God, above the storm, above the trials. When thunder roars and the lighting flashes, when seas rise and the land quakes. Under his mighty wings I will fly, I find rest for my soul, my heart is found in Him, and in His arms I am at peace.

I will praise HIM!

Welcome

Welcome to my Blog! Well this is the first post still adjusting the settings and testing