CHRISTMAS 2011

Every year for the past few years, I have felt less and less in the Christmas spirit. So, a week or so before Christmas this year I started listening to the Glee Christmas albums, volume 1 and 2, to start psyching myself up and “feel” Christmas.

One song they did really elegantly was O Christmas Tree. Such a beautiful song, melody.. but singing all that about a Christmas tree? I found it slightly ridiculous. Then I substituted Christ for Christmas tree and it became this beautiful hymn to God who “is like a tree that is always green” ~Hosea 14:8. It was only when I looked up the original lyrics, that lo and behold, there is a verse about God right at the end.

O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!
Thy leaves are so unchanging;
O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!
Thy leaves are so unchanging;
Not only green when summer's here,
But also when 'tis cold and drear.
O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!
Thy leaves are so unchanging!

O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!
Much pleasure thou can'st give me;
O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!
Much pleasure thou can'st give me;
How often has the Christmas tree
Afforded me the greatest glee!
O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!
Much pleasure thou can'st give me.

O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!
Thy candles shine so brightly!
O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!
Thy candles shine so brightly!
From base to summit, gay and bright,
There's only splendor for the sight.
O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!
Thy candles shine so brightly!

O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!
How richly God has decked thee!
O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!
How richly God has decked thee!
Thou bidst us true and faithful be,
And trust in God unchangingly.
O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!
How richly God has decked thee!!"

However, I still didn’t feel very Christmassy. Didn’t help that I worked right up to 5pm on Friday, 23 December. [Side note: Whatever happened to companies closing over the Christmas period and people slowing down to really savour it?] Anyway, my point? Not feeling Christmassy.

Then I attended an evening my aunt and my cousin orchestrated on Christmas eve. What a blessed event that was!

 They rented a small community hall, put a few decorations on the tables, served some delicious food, and …

 

A story was read to the children to speak about the meaning of Christmas, using a story about trees. (Oh, light bulb moment, another tree reference! Hehehe).

My one aunt played 3 Christmas carols on the piano and we sang along. (My aunt can play piano? And secondly, we haven’t done THAT in.. have we ever done that as a family and not just at a church service?)

My cousin’s husband sang an inspiring song about God (he can sing? Surprise!), my other cousin’s wife read a Christmas poem about God and then shared a verse in the Bible that got them through a very difficult year. And you could hear that this verse had become a lifeline.

Hebrews 13:5-6 (Amplified Bible)*

Let your character or moral disposition be free from love of money [including greed, avarice, lust, and craving for earthly possessions] and be satisfied with your present [circumstances and with what you have]; for He [God] Himself has said, I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support.

[I will] not, [I will] not, [I will] not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let [you] down (relax My hold on you)! [Assuredly not!]

So we take comfort and are encouraged and confidently and boldly say, The Lord is my Helper; I will not be seized with alarm [I will not fear or dread or be terrified]. What can man do to me?

*And since this is my funny coincidental life, this very verse from this very translation was read on a TV sermon the next morning

My dad made a speech that almost had me in tears it was so touching. (I am so proud and so lucky to have my parents – they are stellar people.) One of the things he said was, “what would the world be without Christmas? The year would just end, no special times with family etc.” For all that we complain about Christmas I, Karin, really would miss it AND we choose to make it a meaningful holiday or a shopping extravaganza. We CHOOSE.  It’s not big expensive gifts, it’s just having a time of year that we make special, that we decorate our homes, that we make nice meals.. just doing something special!

My step-cousin also made a speech that nearly had us in tears again. About how beautiful the evening was, how important family is.. I could only agree.

Everything was done from the heart, sincerely. No pretence. No hoopla.

It was beautiful.

It was Christmas.

Our God Reigns

I must be one of the few Christians who start grinding my teeth when a praise/worship song has the line "Our God Reigns"

Let me explain my reasons why and please keep in mind this is just my opinion and I respect that you may not share it or see things the same way. Respect then that this is how I see it.

OUR GOD

Firstly it seems to divide people into 2 groups. There's 'our' group that sings about "our God" and then 'your' group that doesn't serve this God of mine or doesn't serve Him the same way.  The attitude seems to be one of "This is my God, na-na-na-na, He is so much better than yours!"

It's gotten to the point where I have to rewrite the meaning in my head for it to mean, "God of all people; Of all the earth," even if there are people that have yet to meet or accept Him.

OUR GOD REIGNS

In my eyes, there is only one God, God of heaven and earth, creator, sustainer, consisting of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  One God. No competition.

So if you sing "Our God Reigns" who are you singing it to?  Who are you trying to prove it to?

Why not just sing of your love for Him and extol His virtues. It will unite and invite, and not divide.

I know, I know, I'm different/strange/quirky. Thank you for bearing with me! :)

Oooh! Oooh! God's gonna get you!

Today I was reading a blog post on Growing with God called "Reverse Justice" .  It ended with the following "You can feel safe asking God to help you heal your spiritual wounds while he covers your heart. Allow your heart to trust in him".

It's beautiful, and it speaks to me about God being with you always in all ways, meaning He never forsakes you. So it's funny to me (and not in the ha-ha sense) how so many Christians presume to speak for God when confronting a fellow Christian they believe are rebelling or whom they believe are willfully sinning, presuming to speak for God, saying God will not stay patient for always. Decoded: "You better stop what you're doing or God's gonna get mad and you will be in trou-ble!"  And they do it with so much "holy" glee. They almost seem to be glad God is going to punish the person if they keep doing what they're doing, because in their eyes it means there's some justice in the world. If they have to follow the rules, then by golly so do you!

Only problem is, if you're going to say God is love and we know that "love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.." then I think it's safe to assume God has a wee bit more patience with us human beings than we do with each other. It also means He sees into our hearts, and knows why we do what we do. Knowing the motivation behind a person's so called bad behaviour leads to compassion.  God is compassionate.

So today I come to the conclusion that God is actively wooing those whom we may see as willfully sinning, trying to heal their wounded heart. He is not getting ready to whip them into shape if they dare to continue for one more second to "defy" Him.

We are all saved by grace. Maybe we should extend some to our neighbour.

*Passage quoted on love is from the well known scripture 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Do you understand what I have done for you?

Jesus washing his disciples' feet is a familiar passage. I think most of us have experienced a setting where a group took it literally and washed each other's feet.  Humbling. Nice. Symbolic. Nothing to write home about I am ashamed to say.

So, I found myself reading it again, but in my NIV translation. (I usually prefer the New Living Translation). Jesus asks his disciples a question and this time it pops out and SPEAKS to me:

Do you understand what I have done for you?(Jhn 13:12)

And it's like I get it... what the crucifixion and resurrection means. The atonement. It's not just about the forgiveness, reconciliation and eternal life.  It's about how Jesus washed us clean, spiritually.  Only it's not just the fact of him washing us clean that is jumping out at me, but the tender love that went into it that I experience in my heart.  It's the love of Abba, Father.

God is lovingly washing me clean, like I am a treasured baby and He is asking me: Do you understand what I have done for you?

Do you understand what He has done for you?

Hard hearted!

Misty Edwards sings "tears made my heart soft, I am ready for the return of the  Lover" in a song to God.

In the Bible it says "for they still didn’t understand the significance of the miracle of the loaves. Their hearts were too hard to take it in." [Mark 6:52]

Jesus said to His disciples, "Don't you know or understand even yet? Are your hearts too hard to take it in? You have eyes, can't you see? You have ears, can't you hear?" [Mark 8:17-18]

and

‘When you hear what I say, you will not understand.
When you see what I do, you will not comprehend.
For the hearts of these people are hardened, 
and their ears cannot hear,
and they have closed their eyes—
so their eyes cannot see,
and their ears cannot hear,
and their hearts cannot understand,
and they cannot turn to me
and let me heal them.’
[Mat 13:14-15]

We make the choice to harden our hearts. We can make the choice to soften them too! We can make the choice to allow ourselves to cry;  to allow those tears to fall. Only we are too proud! "Oh, not me!" we say. "I am not going to cry!" Once you do let go though, you'll find it's a beautiful place. A holy place. A place where you meet God and feel His presence. So today when you hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts. [Heb 3:7-8]

Tears made my heart soft, I am ready for the return of the  Lover

Just kill me now, Lord!

I think we all know the story of Jonah and the whale.  How he was to go announce God's judgement on the city of Nineveh and how he tried to get out of it..only to land up in the belly of a whale.

Why did God want to go pronounce judgement on a city? What happened to Him being a God of love?  Well, the chapter ends with a verse that explains God's heart towards Nineveh and even it's animals.

But Nineveh has more than 120,000 people living in spiritual darkness, not to mention all the animals. Shouldn’t I feel sorry for such a great city?”  (Jonah 4:11)

God was not rubbing His hands together in glee, just waiting to distroy Nineveh. He wanted SAVE the people and the animals.

After Jonah went to Nineveh and gave them God's judgement, the people repented and changed their ways.

Did Jonah feel happy about it? Oh no! Oh no!

In fact, he complained to God saying the reason he ran away the first time was because he knows God is kind and compassionate and merciful and slow to anger and that if the people of Nineveh repented God would save this city.   He went on to say "Just kill me now, Lord! I'd rather be dead than alive if what I predicted (the destruction of the city) will not happen."  (Jonah 4:1-3)

Can you imagine that?  He'd rather be dead than see God save the people of Nineveh?!

What saddens me is that some Christians also react this way when God saves people they think don't deserve it..people they deem sinners, freaks, evil or whatever they have labelled them. How dare God save them? God is love but surely He can't love those people.

Sobering people. Sobering. Are you judging someone God accepts?

Away with your noisy hymns of praise

When you start singing with a music ministry band again, even if it's only informal jam sessions, and you read the book of Amos it is humbling.

Amos is definitely not a pleasant Bible book to read, but Sunday I found myself reading from it:

I hate all your show and pretense — the hypocrisy of your religious festivals and solemn assemblies.
I will not accept your burnt offerings and grain offerings. I won’t even notice all your choice peace offerings.
Away with your noisy hymns of praise! I will not listen to the music of your harps.
(Amos 5:21-24 nlt)

and

You sing trivial songs to the sound of the harp and fancy yourselves to be great musicians like David.
(Amos 6:5 nlt)

The interesting point this book highlights though is the reason God found their worship offensive was because their lifestyle didn't match their singing. It says "You care nothing about the ruin of your nation." (Amos 6:6)

It would seem to me the biggest sin these people were committing in God's eyes were in oppressing the poor and the needy. (Amos 4:1-2)

God is just not interested in our worship, our lip service, if we ignore hurting people around us, or worse, are the ones hurting them.

"Instead, I want to see a mighty flood of justice, an endless river of righteous living." (Amos 5:24)

Or as it says in Matthew 25...

For I was hungry, and you didn’t feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give me a drink. I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite me into your home. I was naked, and you didn’t give me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’
“Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?’
“And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help Me.’
(Matthew 25:42-45 nlt)

Ignorant of the very thing you worship

It is actually physically uncomfortable to watch or be part of worship when the singers/band do not reach out to God with their spirits while they worship. You can feel it. It's.. flat..dead. I start squirming in my seat.  And, no matter how hard I try on my own to just worship God irrespective of what's going on in the service, the fact is I am still very influenced by it.

Matthew 15:8-9
‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.
Their worship is a farce, for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.’

Why does this happen?  Why do people who profess to love and want to worship God not really worship Him then?  I can give you a reason - It's hard to worship God if you don't really love Him, but actually just feel it's your duty, or worse,  fear Him.  

Acts 17, verse 23 talks about worshiping a God you don't know, a God you are ignorant about.  I feel this is sadly what happens in so many churches, or even happens in the hearts of Christians.

You're not going to love God if you don't know Him. You're not going to get know Him by obeying the rules, and doing or saying the right thing. He's not about rules.  Got that? He is NOT ABOUT RULES, no matter how much your pastor preaches on sin, preaches on how you fall short, preaches on how you better stop doing this or that and get in line. God is about relationship. He is about love. He is about drawing you with kindness.

When do you feel love for someone? Isn't it when they accept you unconditionally, love you, care for you, look out for you, are positive and fun?

So why do we think God is like, completely the opposite of the above! That He doesn't accept us, love us, care for us, look out for us. That He's not positive or *gasp* fun?

Just read this, from that dusty book Deuteronomy that we all usually avoid like the plague..

In a desert land he found him, in a barren and howling waste.
He shielded him and cared for him; he guarded him as the apple of his eye,
like an eagle that stirs up its nest and hovers over its young,
that spreads its wings to catch them and carries them aloft.
The Lord alone led him; no foreign god was with him.
He made him ride on the heights of the land and fed him with the fruit of the fields.
He nourished him with honey from the rock, and with oil from the flinty crag,
with curds and milk from herd and flock and with fattened lambs and goats,
with choice rams of Bashan and the finest kernels of wheat.
You drank the foaming blood of the grape.
(Deut 32:10-14)

Start thinking about love, about God. Read 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 .. would a God like that not be worth getting to know... learning to love?

And then, when your heart is overflowing with that love for God..guess what happens? * drum roll please* Yup, you guessed right! True worship!

Praying honestly

Last night, as we were closing our bible study/cell group with prayer, I felt frustrated. I kept on feeling we were just on the brink of really powerful prayer but we never crossed over. We were praying for things close to our hearts, but the prayers felt... not powerless exactly, but not very effective either. I know God still heard us, but today as I was pondering this issue, I finally realised what the problem is. We were not praying honestly.

I'm sure the other members of my group must at this moment think I'm not very nice for saying that, but let me explain what I mean. I believe we will all agree on my definition in the end. :-)

Do you know when I really feel that I've prayed and reached God? It's when I tell Him exactly what I want to happen, what end result I would like to happen more than anything in the world and THEN leave Him room to talk to me about it or to make it happen.

Well, what do I mean by this?  Say, for example, there's this woman you know in an abusive relationship. You really want her to see the light and get out. You want her to leave that poor example of a human being, she calls her boyfriend. That is what you want.  But when you pray, you ask God in general terms to intervene, to touch her, to help her, etc.  You don't come before God and just say: "God, I want Miss X to leave Mr Y. I can't stand to see what he's doing to her. You know though, that I can't make another person do anything." You add whatever else is on your heart regarding this, then, with your heart open because you've been completely honest, you wait before God. Maybe He leads you into what to pray, maybe He's silent. But you leave it with Him and I tell you, He usually then does something about the situation that completely and very pleasantly surprises you.

God knows. He knows what you really want deep down in your heart.You are not fooling Him that you don't feel passionately about something by saying a meek "politically correct" prayer. And when you honestly tell Him what you want, it just opens up this huge powerful honest space between the two of you.

Have I made sense?

In love,
Karin

The frustrated Jesus

So, Jesus arrives in Bethany 4 days after Lazarus has died. The people are wailing and crying, loudly. It was part of their culture at the time to show public displays of grief. Jesus had known Lazarus had been very sick, but he waited four days before He set off to Bethany. He had told his disciples when they first heard of Lazarus being sick that "“Lazarus’s sickness will not end in death. No, it happened for the glory of God so that the Son of God will receive glory from this.” (John 11:4). Before they reach Bethany He tells them that “Lazarus is dead. And for your sakes, I’m glad I wasn’t there, for now you will really believe. Come, let’s go see him.” (John 11:14-15)

We are all acquainted with the part of this story that says Jesus wept (John 11:35). What we fail to take notice of is that just before this, in verse 33, it says a deep anger welled up within Him, and He was deeply troubled.  Jesus got angry? Angry that people were mourning the death of a loved one? What's up with that?

Remember now, He had told His disciples this would not END in death. He had performed many miracles. The people still did not believe!

In fact, it says in verse 38 that Jesus was still angry as He arrived at the tomb.  So I imagine when He said "Roll the stone aside' it wasn't a friendly request. Martha then jumps in saying there's going to be an unpleasant smell because he has been dead 4 days after all.

I imagine the next words of Jesus was still not the friendliest: "Didn't I tell you that you would see God's glory if you believe?" (John 11:40)

These people are not listening to Him!  I believe we all know the frustration when people just. don't. listen.

Jesus then goes on to pray what I believe is a very exasperated prayer: “Father, thank you for hearing me. [Karin's note: Father, at least YOU are listening to me].You always hear me, but I said it out loud for the sake of all these people standing here, so that they will believe you sent me.”

Then, what does He do? He SHOUTS: Lazarus, come out!

The title of my blog is Listening for God. Are we really listening?

Paper Prayers

It's summer, it's Saturday and I stand amazed at how God has started answering the prayers on my prayer sheets. "Prayer sheets?" you may be asking. Well, I suppose it's  prayer journaling; writing my prayers down instead of praying them out loud. I'm penning down requests about the things that are causing me to worry or that are making me unhappy. It's short, it's precise, immediate. There are no long term wishes or goals or even rambling. It's God and I, right here, right now. Initially I just folded up that first piece of prayer paper and went about my day. Then God answered one of the prayer requests on the very same day I wrote about it. Bam! Got MY attention! So I have continued my prayer sheets but now I stick them in a folder.  Feels like a FBI dosier. Tehehehe.  Moving on.. Today, God started answering another prayer. I wanted to sit there gaping open mouthed at Person X, but well, she was unaware that what she had just said was so unlike her usual response AND that it was exactly what I've started praying for that I had to keep it all inside. Oh, but inside I was air fist pumping: YES! YES! YES!

Sooooo, I'm very exited about this. It's hard to explain my feelings about these prayers other than to say it's not like I see God as some kind of cosmic genie that grants my every wish.  What it is, is a love relationship with G-O-D, a beautiful majestic royal Spirit Being who loves me and who loves to answer prayer. I'm snuggling up to my eternal Lover and if God answers a prayer it's gorgeous. If God doesn't, well I'm still in awe and adoration, trusting the one that is the very definition of reliable.

Knowing God

And this is the way to have eternal life—to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth. ~John 17:3


"Knowing" someone is to enter into a close relationship with that person.
John 15 talks about remaining in the Vine (Jesus). The Greek word for remain is "meno" which, according to my NLT Study Bible, means to remain/stay/abide. My Bible's study notes go on to say it means to have a "profound, intimate, enduring relationship."

"I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us." (John 15:21)

"This mutual indwelling between God and the believer/disciple is not a fleeting or temporary commitment but an unending, permanent and eternal relationship."

God wants us to know Him.

Hosea 4:6 My people are being destroyed because they don’t know me. Since you priests refuse to know me, I refuse to recognize you as my priests.

Hosea 6:3 Oh, that we might know the Lord! Let us press on to know him.He will respond to us as surely as the arrival of dawn or the coming of rains in early spring.”

Hosea 6:6 I want you to show love, not offer sacrifices.  I want you to know me more than I want burnt offerings.

Knowing God, being one with Him, to me is a union that fills me with peace, with bliss. So when God says we are to love each other the same way He has loved us in the same passage that speaks about remaining in Him, well, it takes on a whole new meaning. Do we really have any idea what it is to love God, love ourselves, love each other? To have that intimacy, joy, peace, bliss in knowing God, ourselves, each other?

Wow.

Desperate Hope vs Trust

When we have a "desperate" situation in our lives, it's not always easy to "let go and let God". Somehow we feel that if we stop worrying, then all will completely fall apart. God keeps reminding me through different books and "mentors" to trust Him. Completely. I hope the excerpts below speak to you today as they spoke to me.

Quotes by Florence Scovel Shinn

Anything forced into manifestation through personal will, is always "ill-got" and has "ever bad success."
Man is admonished, "My will (God's will) be done not thine," and the curious thing is, man always gets just what he desires when he does relinquish personal will, thereby enabling Infinite Intelligence to work through him.

Put it in God's hands and use this statement:
-I put this situation in the hands of Infinite love and Wisdom; if this is the divine plan, I bless it and no longer resist, but if it is not divinely planned, I give thanks that it is now dissolved and dissipated.

-Divine Love now dissolves and dissipates every wrong condition in my mind, body and affairs. Divine Love is the most powerful chemical in the universe, and dissolves everything which is not of itself!
-Divine Love floods my consciousness, and every cell in my body is filled with light.

From the Bible:
Matthew 6:9-13 - Pray like this:
Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. 

May Your Kingdom come soon.
May Your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us today the food we need,
and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us.
And don't let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one.

Quotes from Matha Beck:
-I just keep seeing evidence that we can throw ourselves into the bright void of hope, fully expecting to be lifted right back up. Trust!
-The universe doesn't reward desperation-neither desperate hope nor desperate anxiety. To reward it would only teach us to sustain it.
-Seriously, here's how to make things happen: drop the evil-twin attachments of desperate hope & desperate fear: rest in trust. It works.
-Create only from a place of peace. If you don't feel peace, go inward and heal before you create.

From the Bible:
Isaiah 30:15 - This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: "Only in returning to Me and resting in Me will you be saved. In quietness and confidence is your strength.

Lastly, this devotional by Joseph Prince appeared on my Facebook newsfeed just after I had posted this blog entry originally:

Rest And Receive Your Miracle

Hebrews 4:9 -There remains therefore a rest for the people of God.

In the healing of the paralyzed man at the pool of Bethesda (John 5:1–16), Jesus knew that for 38 years, the man had been flat on his back, unable to do anything for himself or others, no matter how hard he struggled.

In the case of the woman oppressed with a spirit of infirmity (Luke 13:10–13), Jesus knew that the woman had been bowed over for 18 years. And in that condition, she saw very little that was beautiful in life, only thedusty ground, dirty sandals and bruised feet.

What about the man with a withered hand? (Luke 6:6–10) Jesus knew from His carpenter days how a useless hand could have easily given the man a very poor sense of self-worth.

I believe that all three of them must have struggled for so long to get back on their feet, to try to lift themselves up, to attempt to do something about their situations, only to be disappointed each time they failed. In fact, they got so frustrated with striving to get better that by the time they met Jesus, they had probably given up trying to change their situations.

It was then that Jesus came and extended His offer to turn their situations around. And when they embraced His offer, they received the miracles that they had sought for so long.

You too may have been struggling to get back on your feet, or to lift yourself out of the problem that has sorely weighed you down. You have attempted to do whatever you could, hoping that it would amount to something, but you have been frustrated time and again. My friend, God wants you to cease from all your struggling and accept the offer He extends to turn your situation around.

It is no coincidence that all three of them received their miracles on the Sabbath, the day of rest for the Jews. God’s Word says, “There remains therefore a rest for the people of God.” The day you cease from your own laboring and striving, and rest in the finished work of Christ, is the day you receive your miracle.

Jesus has done all the work. Whatever you need has been provided for at the cross. So just be at rest and receive your miracle!

Thought of The Day
God wants you to cease from all your struggling and accept the offer He extends to turn your situation around.

The Drop of blood

I see in my mind's eye, a drop of the blood of Jesus dripping onto the forehead of our spiritual bodies. Then how it penetrates to our physical bodies until the whole person is covered and purified, washed and protected with and by the blood of the Lamb.

This is how I envision spiritually applying the blood of Jesus when I start thinking of covering someone with the blood of Jesus through prayer.

I started thinking about this topic of pleading the blood after feeling prompted to read again about the account of how the Israelites protected their 1st born children during the plagues in Egypt by covering the doorposts with the blood of a pure lamb.

But the blood on your doorposts will serve as a sign, marking the houses where you are staying. 

When I see the blood, I will pass over you. This plague of death will not touch you when I strike the land of Egypt. 

(Exodus 12:13).

Then Retha McPherson started talking about it again in her newsletters on spiritual warfare/protection (Retha McPherson Ministries)

It was also the topic the pastor ended the sermon with at a church service I attended this Sunday - pleading the blood of Jesus over a person by putting your hand on their forehead and praying.

When we think of blood, we think of red... of stains.  It isn't logical to think that washing with blood can make you clean. Spiritually though, the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us.

They have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb and made them white.

(Revelation 7:14b)

As that old hymn says: ♪♫ There is power in the blood! ♪♫

God, Your will be done on earth

So yesterday evening a friend who has cancer asks for my prayer support because her faith is running on empty a bit.  I "happen" upon Greg Anderson who wrote a book called "Cancer and the Lord's Prayer".  


Greg and his wife Linda responded to the following question in an interview on the Kyria website

Your book talks about the Lord's Prayer. What role did that play?

Greg: One clause that's often overlooked is, "Thy will be done." A lot of people pray, "Lord, help me. Heal me. Take the cancer away." But there comes a spiritual maturity that says, "Lord, above all, make known to me your will. And I will do whatever possible to make that my life." I didn't say take away the cancer. I said, "Use the cancer." I didn't say, "Perform a miracle," I said, "Lord, help me reveal your will."

Linda: When we started to concentrate on that during Greg's cancer, God started to move emotionally, spiritually, and physically.

(You can read the rest of the article here: 30 days to live)


So I go read the Lord's prayer again in the Bible (Matthew 6) and it lists a reference to 1 Chronicles 29:10-12

 “O Lord, the God of our ancestor Israel, may you be praised forever and ever! Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty. Everything in the heavens and on earth is Yours, O Lord, and this is Your kingdom. We adore You as the one who is over all things. Wealth and honor come from You alone, for You rule over everything. Power and might are in Your hand, and at Your discretion people are made great and given strength.

Then I "happen" upon a website of Pieter van Rooyen called Business Unusual (Banking on God)

He lists a prayer on his website under the following heading:
If you are desperate for miracles in your Life, Health, Family, Finances or Business please pray this prayer out loud:

“Lord Jesus I come to You today to give You all praise and glory for who You are. I declare You are the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. Lord You alone reign over the universe. I thank you that you love me so much that you even created me into your image (Gen1:26-27) and that you have given me authority here on earth over all things, except man (Gen1:28). Lord you taught us to pray: “…let Your kingdom come, [here] on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt 6:10). Lord I declare that in heaven there is abundance in every area of my life. In heaven there is no sickness and no diseases, in heaven my family are well, happy and are all serving you, in heaven there is no lack of finances and in heaven my business is prosperous! Lord You call me an ambassador (2 Cor 5:20) of the Kingdom of Heaven, You call me a son (child) of the Most High (2 Cor 6:18) and an heir to Your throne (Gal 4:7). As a born again citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven, I declare I have authority (Gen. 1:28) over every area of my life and I plead Lord that Your kingdom come in my (life/health/family/ finances/business), as it is in heaven. Lord I ask that You protect me and that You put a hedge around (Job 1:10) me and my (life/health/family/ finances/business). I declare greater miracles (John 14:12) in my life and receive it now by faith only. I ask this in the name of Jesus, AMEN.”

Take a new look at the Lord's prayer. Don't say it just as a ritual but let it come alive as you talk to God.

For Yours is the kingdom and the power and glory, forever.

Amen!

Praying is YOUR responsibility

Now don't get me wrong, if someone asks for prayer support, of course you pray with them.  At other times, God will even lead you to pray for someone who may never even know that you prayed for them.


What I am talking about here is people who say " I don't know how to pray", or "God doesn't listen to my prayers, so please will you pray FOR me." (The implication is "I am not going to pray for this myself", and "your prayers carry more power than mine")


You don't get saved because someone else believes in Jesus Christ on your behalf. God gives us free will to choose to believe in Him.  Expecting someone else to do your praying work for you, well, ultimately that's not going to work either.


God is not a genie in a bottle - there to grant your every wish while you couldn't be bothered to talk to Him. He is your God, who also longs to be a close and intimate friend.  He wants you to get to know Him, love Him, trust Him, spend time just breathing in His presence ... as you reach out to Him, pour out your heart to Him, believe in His goodness, rest in Him, you will find your trust in Him growing.


This is not going to happen if you continually ask others to pray for you while you go on your merry way.


Start believing that God is who He says He is: LOVE
Start doing what He says: forgive, bless and pray for your enemies; have faith


It's God who answers the prayer and it's got nothing to do with any "special powers" the person praying may appear to have.  He is available to all who seek Him.  The death and resurrection of Jesus gave us all direct access to the Father.  Believe it!


My prayer today is that all of us will grow closer to Him, reach out to Him, receive His love peace guidance and yes, even miracles!
Thank you, Jesus
Amen.


2 Corinthians 1:24 (New Living Translation)
But that does not mean we want to dominate you by telling you how to put your faith into practice. We want to work together with you so you will be full of joy, for it is by your own faith that you stand firm.

Cold Love

Last night reading the Bible a verse caught my attention in Matthew 24:

Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. ~Matthew 24:12-13 (NIV)

I started wondering why the love of most would "grow cold as wickedness increased" and I can think of 2 reasons why people's love for God would decrease:


1)  "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em!"
     We become more and more desensitised to violence, lust, etc so that we accept it as normal and join in.


2)  "What's the use when there's all this evil and suffering in the world?"
     We start questioning if God exists because of the presence of evil and suffering.


Love is what it's all about. God is love, and God wants us to love Him, ourselves and all others.  


Don't allow circumstances to rob you of your love for God.  Rather focus on His goodness, His nature, His love and allow the Holy Spirit to keep your heart open, flexible and responsive.


It makes life worth living!


Have a blessed day!

The women in Jesus' bloodline

Matthew 1 starts with the genealogy of Jesus.  Now genealogies don't really spark much excitement for most people, myself included.

However, I have been pleasantly surprised to learn a few valuable lessons from a dry old list of names.

It is worthy to note that the genealogy in Matthew 1 mentions five women!  It's rare for one woman to be named in a genealogy like this, let alone five. The five woman are: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba and of course, Mary, the mother of Jesus.

Besides the fact that imperfect people ("sinners") make out part of the genealogy of Jesus, the first wow is .... 

David & Bathsheba, the parents of Solomon

Mistakes can be part of God's plan

Their relationship started out as adultery. Bathsheba was married to Uriah.  David sent Uriah into battle, making sure all his supporting men would withdraw as the battle heated up so Uriah would be killed. Murder, adultery.. not exactly a spotless background.

What stands out for me in this is that even though we may sin, make a sinful, wrong choice and have to deal with consequences of that sin (David & Bathsheba's first baby died) ... many times what we want to think of as a "mistake" or wrong choice is something God uses in the bigger picture of life as part of His plan.  He uses everything for His glory.

The second wow is...

Rahab

Prostitute by profession

I read about Rahab again recently while reading about the fall of Jericho and then someone pointed out to me that she is mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus.  I immediately checked for myself!  *smile* I never made the connection that it was THIS Rahab.  What it boils down to is that Rahab was a prostitute, not a Jew, who hid some Israelite spies and saved their lives, and therefore she was saved when the city of Jericho was destroyed.  She went on to become the mother of Boaz, who married Ruth.

Our sin, our past, doesn't keep God from using us.  Those whom the church would judge as unfit outsiders are sometimes the very people God wants to use!

   1 Samuel 16:7

The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.

   Romans 2:11

For God does not show favoritism.

   Romans 8:28

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.

To end, my bible's footnote says Romans 8:28 can also read:

And we know in all things God works together with those who love him to bring about what is good—with those who have been called according to His purpose.

Make Jesus your Guru

I've been reading a book by Lester Levenson that made the suggestion to constantly think of your Master, constantly read his words, as though he's talking to you directly.


Well, I have only one Master in my life, Jesus, so let's rephrase that:
Constantly think of Jesus, your Saviour, constantly read His words, as though He's talking to you directly.


I wanted to give it a go, so I thought of the passage where Jesus says I am the way, the truth and the life.  Settling down I imagined a fuzzy image of a human form of Jesus saying these words to me as I read them in the Bible, and I suggest you do the same thing. Imagine Jesus saying this directly to you:


⁵ ... "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?"
 ⁶Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. ⁷If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him."
 ⁸Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us."
 ⁹Jesus answered: "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'?¹⁰Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. ¹¹Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. ¹²I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father."  (John 14:5-12)


You know what happened to me when I did that?  I realised for the first time how that must have sounded to His disciples ... here is this "man" Jesus, saying God the Father is in Him and He is in God the Father. Wow.  He must have known too how our little minds would try to wrap themselves around that because in verse 11 he says, "BELIEVE ME WHEN I SAY that I am in the Father and the Father is in me."


I've since tried this experiment with the passages on loving your enemy and judging in Luke 6.  It really makes you see things you may not have seen before!


So next time you read the Bible, go to a passage where Jesus is speaking and imagine Him saying the words to YOU.


God bless,
Karin

Sing over you

Sometimes, when we think of loved ones going through a tough time, we start feeling despair. We start feeling a sense of hopelessness, because we want to help them and we can't. We get so lost in the negative details of their lives and not seeing a way out for them that we find it hard to even pray for them. Right then, focusing on the impossible, we can't see what IS possible.

At other times, someone may have hurt us. It could have been inadvertently or it could have been on purpose. Either way, hurting, we find it hard to pray for them, let alone pray blessings over them.

What if you don't have to say a prayer for them?
What if you could sing over them instead?

Sing? Yes, Sing!

Sing God's heart over them. God after all is good and loving to all. God is mighty to save and the God of the impossible. God is also singing over you. Heaven is singing over you.

For the LORD your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs."

Zephaniah 3:17

All this went through my mind as I listened to THERE IS ALWAYS A SONG on the Compassionart album. I've heard it many times before, but yesterday I really listened.

Please read through the lyrics below, and if you can, watch the youtube video link given below it.

Blessings!
Karin

There is always a song

I don’t know how to breathe
I don’t know how to leave you
I don’t know what to say
And who am I to say it anyway

But there is always a song
And I’ll try to sing along over you
I can hear it being sung
All of heaven sings along over you

I hardly know your name
I didn’t come to save you
Your smile just broke my heart
Now in my heart I know you’ll never leave me.

Sing, sing like you’ve never sung
Sing for your joy to come
Sing, sing like you’ve never sung
Sing of our joy to come
© 2008 GloWorks Limited for CompassionArt