I always find it interesting that in the middle of something else that is being said, presented, taught...there can be another truth revealed…
Here I was talking about freedom on sunday, and I am still talking about with people since the weekend...and the idea that God sends someone to help bring freedom to us keeps popping its head up.
I used the example of Moses and God picking him to help rescue his people from Egypt.
But what about these other people?
Joseph was sent ahead to rescue his people.
Joshua lead the people into the promised land.
Rahab helped the spies before Jericho fell.
Deborah.
Gideon.
Samson.
...they all saved their people.
God looked around one day and finds Isaiah to send.
God even sends His own Son for us…
The Bible is full of these stories!
Stories of where God sends a person (not just a man) to rescue others.
I think that is awesome, and applies to you reading this right now.
If you need rescuing in anyway in your life...pray that God would send someone and he will!
If you don’t need rescuing in anyway in your life...be ready for God to send you to someone who needs it.
God rescues!...through you and me...
Something to think about…
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Thursday, May 20, 2010
coincidence?
There is a character called The Merovingian in the Matrix Movies.
He is a bit of a dodgy French guy (please note, I am not saying the French are dodgy, just this character) and he starts to philosophy in one of his conversations.
“Have I told you before there is no escaping the nature of the universe? Is it that nature that has again brought you to me. When some see 'coincidence', I see 'consequence'. When others see 'chance', I see 'cause'.”
Due to some events in my life this week and how they tied into my past...they got me thinking about this thing we call coincidence.
Let me explain…
As I was working on this thought on Wednesday, my reading for the day from E100 was about Joshua and what God said for him to be as the new leader of his people.
That is the same passage God gave us when we were looking at whether he wanted us to move to Taupo.
I was reading it on the same date I said yes 365 days before.
How crazy is that?
How random you could say?
Maybe you could say it means nothing?
Or that it is just a coincidence?
I am wandering around the resource area of the conference I am at on Tuesday and I bump into a guy I hadn’t seen for many years.
We get talking and find out that a course we are thinking of running later this year is actually headed up by him for New Zealand. I had no idea!
How crazy is that?
How random you could say?
Maybe you could say it means nothing?
Or that it is just a coincidence?
Maybe what we call coincidence is not just some strange event at all?
Maybe it is not some thing that nature or the universe made up?
But could it be the creator of nature and all of the universe arranging things exactly for our benefit?
I personally think God is at work for us more than we will ever realize. He is looking after His kids and making all the right days, times and ‘appointments’ work to our benefit and for His glory.
Something to think about…
He is a bit of a dodgy French guy (please note, I am not saying the French are dodgy, just this character) and he starts to philosophy in one of his conversations.
“Have I told you before there is no escaping the nature of the universe? Is it that nature that has again brought you to me. When some see 'coincidence', I see 'consequence'. When others see 'chance', I see 'cause'.”
Due to some events in my life this week and how they tied into my past...they got me thinking about this thing we call coincidence.
Let me explain…
As I was working on this thought on Wednesday, my reading for the day from E100 was about Joshua and what God said for him to be as the new leader of his people.
That is the same passage God gave us when we were looking at whether he wanted us to move to Taupo.
I was reading it on the same date I said yes 365 days before.
How crazy is that?
How random you could say?
Maybe you could say it means nothing?
Or that it is just a coincidence?
I am wandering around the resource area of the conference I am at on Tuesday and I bump into a guy I hadn’t seen for many years.
We get talking and find out that a course we are thinking of running later this year is actually headed up by him for New Zealand. I had no idea!
How crazy is that?
How random you could say?
Maybe you could say it means nothing?
Or that it is just a coincidence?
Maybe what we call coincidence is not just some strange event at all?
Maybe it is not some thing that nature or the universe made up?
But could it be the creator of nature and all of the universe arranging things exactly for our benefit?
I personally think God is at work for us more than we will ever realize. He is looking after His kids and making all the right days, times and ‘appointments’ work to our benefit and for His glory.
Something to think about…
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
2 days
I would have thought 2 days would have been long enough to recover...but I am wrong!
I am sore.
I find it hard to move.
And I am very frustrated…
All because I did something stupid.
My wife had been for many weeks now ‘encouraging’ me to try her class she does each Monday morning.
Now I am not Mr Unfit, but I seriously over-estimated my abilities doing something different.
So during what they called the ‘warm up’ I loaded more weights than my wife suggested and proceeded to try and follow the instructor.
I should have known something was wrong as my legs began to shake in ways I had never experienced quite before.
But here I am surrounded by others that I thought would judge me as ‘weak’ if I didn’t keep things going…
So I pushed on through.
Trying to stop the leg shake from being too obvious.
We are now 2 days later and my muscles hate me.
In fact I think they have said to themselves that I am stupid and that I don’t deserve their cooperation.
I'm left cringing every time I try and move.
I actually crawl up the stairs because walking normally is impossible.
We do this with our lives sometimes don’t we?
We push ourselves to the point of extreme pain.
We don’t want to stop because we don’t want to look bad in front of others.
We can think honesty now is the same as weakness.
I have found that it doesn’t matter whether you have a relationship with God or not. You still have your own freewill to decide how far you will take things.
I should have stopped.
I should have taken it a fraction bit easier.
Swallowed my pride.
My encouragement to you is that you watch your boundaries. Know how far you can push before something may start to break...like my leg muscles...
If God thought it was a good idea to rest for a day...it
certainly can’t be a bad idea for us either!
Go hard in life, love, faith...and all that.
But don’t destroy yourself in the process.
Otherwise you can’t enjoy this life that God offers us...
Something to think about…
I am sore.
I find it hard to move.
And I am very frustrated…
All because I did something stupid.
My wife had been for many weeks now ‘encouraging’ me to try her class she does each Monday morning.
Now I am not Mr Unfit, but I seriously over-estimated my abilities doing something different.
So during what they called the ‘warm up’ I loaded more weights than my wife suggested and proceeded to try and follow the instructor.
I should have known something was wrong as my legs began to shake in ways I had never experienced quite before.
But here I am surrounded by others that I thought would judge me as ‘weak’ if I didn’t keep things going…
So I pushed on through.
Trying to stop the leg shake from being too obvious.
We are now 2 days later and my muscles hate me.
In fact I think they have said to themselves that I am stupid and that I don’t deserve their cooperation.
I'm left cringing every time I try and move.
I actually crawl up the stairs because walking normally is impossible.
We do this with our lives sometimes don’t we?
We push ourselves to the point of extreme pain.
We don’t want to stop because we don’t want to look bad in front of others.
We can think honesty now is the same as weakness.
I have found that it doesn’t matter whether you have a relationship with God or not. You still have your own freewill to decide how far you will take things.
I should have stopped.
I should have taken it a fraction bit easier.
Swallowed my pride.
My encouragement to you is that you watch your boundaries. Know how far you can push before something may start to break...like my leg muscles...
If God thought it was a good idea to rest for a day...it
certainly can’t be a bad idea for us either!
Go hard in life, love, faith...and all that.
But don’t destroy yourself in the process.
Otherwise you can’t enjoy this life that God offers us...
Something to think about…
Wednesday, May 05, 2010
Got a phone call yesterday.
Been asked to speak to a group of people tomorrow that on face value have more experience than me, been around longer than me doing what I do…
It is an honour.
But also a little daunting, I have to admit.
In life opportunities come up all the time.
The ones that stand out I think in our minds more are the ones we don’t think we can do, or what push us out of our comfort zone.
Smaller opportunities come and go, and are forgotten a lot quicker because they don’t cost us or tax us that much.
So faced with this thing...I am reminding myself these few little keys.
God organizes a lot of things on our behalf.
Proverbs 20:24
A man’s steps are directed by the Lord…
God has planned great stuff for us.
Jeremiah 29:10-12
“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.”
We can trust it will work out great.
Proverbs 3:5-6
5Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
6in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight
When we don’t know what to say, God promises to give us just the right things to say.
Matthew 10:19
...not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say
I can’t wait to see what happens with this opportunity!
Can’t wait to see what God does with it and through me!
If you have an opportunity at the moment to do something you know God wants you to do, but you are a little scared...good!
You get to see God do as he has promised you.
Make the most of it, no matter how you feel.
It is going to be awesome!
Something to think about…
Been asked to speak to a group of people tomorrow that on face value have more experience than me, been around longer than me doing what I do…
It is an honour.
But also a little daunting, I have to admit.
In life opportunities come up all the time.
The ones that stand out I think in our minds more are the ones we don’t think we can do, or what push us out of our comfort zone.
Smaller opportunities come and go, and are forgotten a lot quicker because they don’t cost us or tax us that much.
So faced with this thing...I am reminding myself these few little keys.
God organizes a lot of things on our behalf.
Proverbs 20:24
A man’s steps are directed by the Lord…
God has planned great stuff for us.
Jeremiah 29:10-12
“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.”
We can trust it will work out great.
Proverbs 3:5-6
5Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
6in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight
When we don’t know what to say, God promises to give us just the right things to say.
Matthew 10:19
...not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say
I can’t wait to see what happens with this opportunity!
Can’t wait to see what God does with it and through me!
If you have an opportunity at the moment to do something you know God wants you to do, but you are a little scared...good!
You get to see God do as he has promised you.
Make the most of it, no matter how you feel.
It is going to be awesome!
Something to think about…
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