May God's love and kindness wash over you afresh.
Greetings - I apologise for all those unable to make Sunday as I forgot to record the message. We have just embarked on a series 'God's Father Heart' I also want to remind you all we have our fellowship shared lunch this Sunday so please come with some kai to share. Can I encourage you to stay for a chance to catch up with folk and have some fellowship together. God has called us to build a godly community together and this is one of the opportunities to enhance this so please join us. Grab a cuppa and take a few minutes to read through my Muse for this week - I pray that it will stir something up in you. Have you ever wondered what God thinks of you? Is it hard for you to believe He loves you as much as the Bible says He does? God is so big and He sometimes seems so distant - but what is He really like? Do you really know Him? You've heard His instructions, but do you know anything about His emotions or His character? One of the most wonderful revelations of the Bible is that God is our Father. What do you think of when you hear the word "father"? Do you automatically think of protection, provision, warmth, and tenderness? Or does the word "father" paint different kinds of pictures for you? God reveals Himself in the Bible as a gentle, forgiving Father, intimately involved with each and every detail of our lives. It is not only a beautiful picture, but a true one. However, every person seems to have a different idea of what God is like, because they unconsciously tend to attach the feelings and impressions that they have of their own earthly father to their concept of their Heavenly Father. Each person's own experience with human authority is usually transferred over to how they relate to God. Good experiences bring us closer to knowing and understanding God, just as bad experiences create distorted pictures of our Father's love for us. What did God have in mind when He created the family? The Bible says, "God makes a home for the lonely (Psalm 68:6 NASB) A family involves a circle of relationship including an adult male and female, into which tiny, dependent human beings are born and raised. Why do we enter the world as a baby, as such helpless, inadequate persons, and then slowly grow up physically, mentally, and emotionally into self-sufficient adults? Have you ever wondered why God didn't come up with some sort of reproduction system that would produce a physically completed person such as His original creation of Adam and Eve? I believe God wanted us to come into this world totally dependent and helpless, because He intends the family unit to be a place where His love is demonstrated to both parent and child. As parents we begin to really understand God's heart towards us as His children. And as children, it is God's will for us to see His love revealed through parental tenderness, mercy, and discipline. But what if the ideal did not happen? What if you have been failed in some way by parental authority? So many have suffered hurt and rejection by their families that it is hard for them to see God as He really is. Understanding the character of God is essential if we are to love Him, serve Him, and be like Him. I want to say a full revelation of God's parental love is incomplete without the presence of the male and female attributes of parental affection. "And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them." (Genesis 1:27NASB) Take a moment and look back into your personal past and see if your relationship with God has been hindered in any way because of a failure or absence of tender loving care from one or both of your parents. Did you grow up with harsh, critical or vindictive parental authority? God gave this command to parents in Ephesians 6:4: "Parents don't keep on scolding and nagging your children, making them angry and resentful. Rather, bring them up with the loving discipline the Lord Himself approves."(LB) As a child you may have experienced the complete absence of a father because of death or divorce. Maybe you were orphaned by the demands of your parents' career? Or is it just the childhood memory of broken promises or neglect that haunts you? Some of you screamed for hours as babies but nobody came to relieve you of your discomfort and hunger. Some of you whimpered behind locked doors, a small child, forgotten and alone. God said, "I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you... I am with you always even until the end of the age. "(Heb. 13:5; Matt.28:20 NASB) Our modern homes are stuffed with expensive and fragile furnishings and appliances that represent a minefield of potential rejection and rebuke for inquisitive toddlers. How many mothers or fathers have exploded in anger at a child who has damaged a treasured object of great expense or sentimental value. Children are constantly reminded of the importance of things - their value, and how to care for them. Very few times do they hear the simple words, "I love you." A repetitious and destructive chant is working its way into the subconscious minds of our children, "Things are more important than me. Things are more important than me!" Our testimony is that in providing for us, God goes far beyond our basic needs of food, clothing, and shelter. We serve a truly generous God! The Psalmist said, "Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord; and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He will do it." (Psalm 37:3-5 NASB) Do you have any idea how attractive you are to God? Many children, particularly boys, have had no physical display of affection from their fathers, or no real compassion when they are hurt. Because of our false concept of masculinity, we are told, "Don't cry son, boys don't cry." Jesus is not like that. His compassion and understanding are measureless. He feels our hurts more deeply than we do because His sensitivity to suffering is so much greater, "I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love." (Hosea 11:4 NIV) There is one attribute of God that not even the best parent can hope to imitate - that is God's ability to be with you all the time. As parents we just cannot give constant attention 24 hours a day. We are finite beings who can only focus on one thing at a time. Not only is God with you all the time, but He gives you His whole attention. "Let Him have all your worries and cares, for He is always thinking about you and watching everything that concerns you." (I Peter5:7 LB) We live in a performance-oriented society. Acceptance is always conditional - if you make the football team, if you bring home a good report card, if you look pretty, if you have money, if you win. The kingdom of this world is a kingdom of rejection. The Kingdom of God is a kingdom of unconditional love. God's promises are conditional, we must obey Him to see blessing, but His love is unconditional. You don't have to wait to experience the love of God. Come as you are. Just be honest with Him about your sin - He delights to forgive you. Even in the depths of your past rebellion He still loved you. Even God's judgments are motivated by love. The prophet Zephaniah described a similar emotion in the heart of God. "He will save, He will rejoice over thee with joy, He will rest in His love, He will joy over thee with singing." (Zeph. 3:17 KJV) If you see that you have been hindered in your relationship with God due to some kind of failure of parental love, then take these things to ABBA Father. It is my prayer that you will realise His love for you and respond to the Father heart of God. May you find wholeness in ABBA Father today https://youtu.be/WCnYC3l3ddk Enjoy this worship song as you reflect on your Heavenly Father With much love JD
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May you live for heaven!
“If they had wanted to, they could have gone back to the good things of this world. But they didn’t want to. They were living for heaven. And now God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has made a heavenly city for them”(Hebrews 11:15-16TLB). Heaven changes everything about how you live today. If you’re headed to Heaven (and I hope you are), then that reality should impact how you live here on earth today. Your value system changes. Instead of living for the here and now, you’ll live for eternity. You can also live knowing your future is secure. No matter what happens on earth, you’ll spend an eternity with God in the most amazing place you’ve ever been - in His presence. So how do you live in the now if you know your eternal destination is Heaven? Don’t be distracted by temptation. “Dear brothers, you are only visitors here. Since your real home is in heaven, I beg you to keep away from the evil pleasures of this world; they are not for you, for they fight against your very souls”(1 Peter 2:11 TLB). You can be distracted by lots of things — both good and bad. Stay focused on what’s of eternal significance. Delay gratification, even though everything in society tries to get you to do just the opposite. Stay focused on what’s ahead. Don’t be discouraged by trouble. The Bible says, “So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever” (2 Corinthians 4:18 NLT). When you live in light of eternity, trouble just doesn’t bother you as much anymore. You know troubles won’t last forever, so you simply don’t give up. Focus your energy on what will last. “Let heaven fill your thoughts; don’t spend your time worrying about things down here” (Colossians 3:2 TLB). Fulfill the purposes of God in your life. Live a life of worship. Build relationships with God’s people. Invest your time in becoming more like Jesus through discipleship. Serve others without restriant or indifference. Tell people about Jesus. Those activities last forever. It's time to learn how to truly live for heaven and not for ourselves. May Christ rule in your heart and that you'd be open to living out of freedom not obligation. Enjoy this song as you reflect on whats been shared https://youtu.be/So97pmyDbVw As it is in Heaven - Hillsong Much love and care WOW! What a lovely time in God's presence yesterday, thank you to the music team for hosting us through what was a Holy Spirit encouraging time.
I am attaching two links for the last two weeks of messages. Please when you have time to listen, they are the last two I AM's of Jesus which we have been covering and well worth a listen. PLEASE NOTE: Our Easter Service is one of our special reflective - interactive services so if you are home over Easter please join us and bring a friend or family member. Starts smack on 10am I AM The Bread of Life - JD - 9th April 2017.m4a I AM The Light of The World Steve Goodwin 2 Apr... . I pray my Muse will encourage you today. If you could see me right now you’d laugh. I broke my glasses early this morning and I have had to use an old pair until I can get some more. My reading distance from close up to 2-3 feet away is blurry with my old glasses and hard to focus – the distance for driving is still ok, so I’m whipping my glasses of and on, peering down to the keyboard keys then back on again to lean away from computer to try and focus – all the while getting a headache while I do this. Although it has been a bit to manage especially as much of my work happens within 2-3 feet of my vision it has had me thinking about our eyes and how we see God at work in our lives. How quickly we forget! God does something good in our lives - He answers a prayer, He bails us out, He helps us with a miracle - then the next time a problem comes along, we act as if God’s miracles never happened. We have short-term memory. And when we can’t remember past blessings, we start fearing the future. We stop thinking God will do it again, because we forgot He did it the first time, so we worry and get anxious and even fearful. When we have short-term memory, we start worrying unnecessarily about tomorrow. Learning to have spiritual eyes is absolutely essential to your success, your stress level, your stability, and your strength. The Bible says in Proverbs 29:18, “When people do not accept divine guidance, they run wild.” (NLT). Without clear vision of God, you lose hope. When you don’t have a Christ focused vision for your family, you lose hope. When you don’t have a Christ given vision for your career, you lose hope. When you don’t have a Christ-Centred vision for your health, you lose hope. When you can’t see your way clearly, it means you’ve lost your vision of Jesus Christ, which means you’re going to lose your hope. Jesus said I AM; your deliverance, your power, your peace, your freedom, your joy, your wisdom, your comfort, your rest, your love, and so on…When we loose focus we tend to stop praying and also seeking the help and guidance of others. Lose of hope and vision cause us to disconnect. The key to making it through the struggle in your life, no matter how long it lasts, is hope. And you don’t just pull it out of the sky; you get it from fixing your eyes on Jesus daily. Ephesians 1:18 says, “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in His holy people” (NIV). He’s talking about seeing with spiritual eyes and having spiritual vision. You get hope from seeing your life from God’s eternal perspective. When you understand the vision for your life, focus is not difficult. When vision is not present, we tend to become mediocre at a lot of things. If you’re looking for God to do a miracle in your life, ask Him to open the eyes of your heart and give you His vision for your life. Ask Him to speak to you and reveal Himself to you through His Word and through His Holy Spirit's voice in your heart. May you be in focus today May you ask God to correct your vision if you've lost focus May you find eyes to see through God's Word and His Spirit. Worship Him today through this lovely song of Matt Redman Come and See https://youtu.be/kOmLvpAZcmY Lots of Love From your friend - JD |
AuthorPastor JD Drower Archives
May 2017
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