The Impotent Trojan Horse

We cry out to God ‘Why?”. We determine to stoically keep our faith during times of adversity. We grit our teeth and bear it. We whine. We complain. We plod through the valley trusting that the light isn’t far away.

We miss the point.

God, why am I in this situation? God why is this person in front of me moving so slowly when I am in such a rush? God why have I run into this negative person when I was feeling so good? God why am I being falsely accused?

Because YOU are there to DO SOMETHING!

If you just complain or grit your teeth to get through it you have missed your purpose. You will be like a Trojan horse that was placed EXACTLY WHERE IT NEEDED TO BE. The battle was set, the strategy was in place, the volunteer soldier was in position and then, right when the trap door should have opened and God’s warrior should have gone into the fray to win a victory, NOTHING HAPPENED.

God looked into the Trojan horse wondering why His warrior didn’t go forth and fight and he found a distracted and confused person complaining about how uncomfortable the ride in the Trojan horse had been or how there weren’t enough windows or not enough air to ventilate the space.

He shook his head and scoffed at the fact that just that morning His ‘warrior’ had been crying out for an opportunity to “Do something, Do anything for his Lord and King.”

When you find yourself in an uncomfortable situation. When you are somewhere you don’t want to be. When you are around people who are frustrating you. When you are falsely accused. When you are imprisoned unjustly. That is where He needs you. To pray light into the darkness. To speak blessing into people. Not to get distracted by your flesh.

 

In those hard times, seek HIS PERSPECTIVE!! GBU

 

Psalms 91:1,2

Proverbs 3:5,6

Romans 8:38,39

James 1:2-4

1 Peter 1:6-9

Philippians 4:6,7

Philippians 1:12-14

Getting what you need, not what you want

For God there is no tomorrow, no yesterday and no last week. God lives in the NOW. He sees everything that has ever happened and everything that will happen all at once. For Him it is just a matter of bringing His perfect plan into fruition.

In the bible it says 365 times ‘Do not worry’. His word tells us ‘that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.’ Romans 8:28

So what does this mean?

If you have just had your car stolen: Don’t worry, in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.’

If you have just lost your job: in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.’

If you are sick: in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.’

If life is not going the way you want it to: in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.’

Remember that the purpose of this life is to train us spiritually, NOT to be successful and comfortable in the world. ‘Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you.’ 1John 2:15

If we focus on what is truly important in life, namely learning to “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ and ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Matthew 22:37-38 instead of trying to get more money, a bigger house, more recognition and more success in the world, we might feel like more than conquerors instead of flailing Christians.

2 Corinthians 5:7 ‘We live by faith, not by sight’. The faith that God’s plan is being played out and we are a vital part of it. The faith that the circumstances of our lives are being used to mold and shape us for a purpose, His purpose, not our desires!

Romans 9: 20 But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” ²¹  Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? ²² What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, ²³ in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory.

Learn to thank Him and praise Him even when you can’t see the blessing!! God Bless You

Here is an analogy for life: Life is God teaching us to drive a car

He gives us the key…. Salvation

He tells us to put in the key, put in the clutch and turn it on.

We do, and then the radio comes on, we turn it up, get into the song and start humming away.

After a while we realise we’re not going anywhere, we turn down the radio and turn to God “Hey, God!! Why isn’t it working?

To which He replies, “I hadn’t finished teaching you. Now you need to change the gears and…

“Nananahnahna!! We are off again, trying to do it ourselves

“Hey God!! Still not moving, what’s the problem? Thought you were all powerful and that.”

Yes, my son, I still wasn’t done. Next you let out the clutch slowly and press down the accelerator.

“Wooohooo!! I’m moving!! We cruise around for a while, loving the sensation, praising God for how wonderful He is for helping us.

Then we realise we don’t know where we are or where we are going.

We ask him and He gives us some directions and tells us to go on a little way. We begin to get the hang of driving and are following his directions.

Then we see a shop giving away free blackberries!! We swing the wheel, pull of the road, park the car and run into the store. We are laughing at how lucky we were to be driving down this road right at the moment when the giveaway is on. We put two and two together and figure that it must have been God’s plan!! He brought us down this road, He wanted us to get a free blackberry!! What a great God!!

Meanwhile, God is shaking His head and wondering why we have stopped the car.

Finally we get back in the car and back on our path. God tells us to go left, right, faster, slower etc. He sees that we are starting to get the hang of following his directions. We get the sense that God is happy with us and turn to him and smile.

He responds by saying “You are getting it”. We look at Him and nod. He smiles and says:

“NOW, CLOSE YOUR EYES”

We freak out a bit but then do it. We listen to His voice and follow His directions and gradually start to realise we can do it!! We are cruising along, eyes closed, responding to His directions.

Then we open one eye and peak.

“WOOOOOOH!! What are we doing here!!!” We swing the wheel, turn the car around and start flooring it in the other direction.

“It’s lucky I peaked!! We were in big trouble!! That road was so narrow and there were drop offs on either side, one wrong move and we would have been dead. Lucky I turned around”

That narrow path that we can only navigate by listening to every word that comes from the mouth of God and walking by faith and not by sight…..LIFE.

GBU

 

He’s In Control

Mathew 17 : 24-26

24After Jesus and his disciples arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma tax came to Peter and asked, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax?”

25″Yes, he does,” he replied.

When Peter came into the house, Jesus was the first to speak. “What do you think, Simon?” he asked. “From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes—from their own sons or from others?”

26″From others,” Peter answered.

“Then the sons are exempt,” Jesus said to him. 27″But so that we may not offend them, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours.”

For morning devotion at the school I work at there re 2 teachers assigned to each class. My partner and I take turns giving sermons and leading the 15 minutes we have with our class each morning. This morning she shared about how last week she was having a problem and without knowing it my sharing was very specific advice for her.

Even now I don’t remember the sharing I gave. Quite often I go to class with little or no idea what I am going to talk about and just talk about something I have heard or learnt in the past. But God is God and He is in control !!

Why didn’t Jesus just take a coin out of His pocket and hand it to Peter to pay the tax ? Because He wanted to make the point that He is in control of everything, nature, money, every circumstance, everything !

One of my favourite experiences as a Christian is when you have the revelation or ‘re-revelation (remember) that God is working in every aspect of your life. He knit us together in our mother’s womb, He clothes the lilies in the field (Matthew 6:27-29), He commanded the waves and wind to stop, He cures disease and HE LOVES YOU AND ME !! How wonderful that is, if He is with us, who is against us ?

Lean on Him today, trust in Him, have faith in Him. They are the key words in Christianity because that is what Christianity is all about. The fact that God is God and He has a beautiful plan. Love Him, trust Him and know that all things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28

GBU

“Many are invited, but few are chosen.”

In the story of Lazarus and the rich man the rich man begs to be sent back to earth to tell his 5 brothers that there is a God and if they don’t change the way they are living they will end up in hell.

27 And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house— 28 for I have five brothers —so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’

The answer he receives is :

29 But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.

In Matthew 22:14 we hear that “Many are invited, but few are chosen.” What does this mean ?

The revelation I am beginning to get is that everyone on earth is called. The bible is there, the word of God is there, His saints are preaching His message, the church doors are open. It is their choice to answer the call or not.

Then there are those who were chosen. God had predestined them. He touched them on the shoulder at some stage in their life and said “Hey, you are mine. I have work for you to do” I believe he did that with me. If you read my life testimony you will see a complete life transformation. Why? Did I get sick of the life I was leading and work hard to change direction? NO! I CAME FACE TO FACE WITH THE LIVING GOD AND HAVE NEVER BEEN THE SAME SINCE!!

I pray that you are one of the chosen. If you are it is only a matter of time. If you are one of the called, answer the call. It makes absolutely no difference if you are called or chosen as long as you answer the call.

Put your life on track to spend eternity in Heaven. If you need help with this email me – Geoffcollins1@yahoo.com.au

                                                           God Bless You, Gef

Creatures of Habit

Human beings are very habitual. Being habitual is an instinctive trait. Memory builds a list of experiences that bring desired outcomes and we tend to stick to those experiences to fill our needs. Stepping into a new experience can bring rushes of adrenaline, anticipation and even stress. Don’t believe me? Just think about the extra sense of excitement when you a try a new exotic food (and then there’s sky diving!)

The thing about habits is that they can be bad or good. A golfer practices their golf swing to build muscle memory. After a while, your body can repeat your golf swing with very little conscious effort and it will be remarkably similar time after time. So why aren’t all golfers of Tiger Woods caliber? The problem is in the programming. When building the muscle memory people build in mistakes that they then repeat over and over again. It’s the golf coach that analyzes the swing and instructs about where correction is needed. The golfer must then make a lot of effort to re-program their swing as it is easier to build a new habit than renovate an old one.

In life we have also built in bad habits or had them programmed into us by people as we have grown up. We can however, change our bad habits. We can replace bad habits with good ones and fine tune our habits so that they become beneficial for ourselves and others.

A lot of smokers are successful in giving up because they replace smoking with drinking water. When they have a craving they drink a glass of water or eat candy. Instead of eating to relieve stress you can retrain yourself to go for a walk or go to the gym. Instead of waking up slowly and unhappily, depressed about the fact that you have to get up early, you can train yourself to get out of bed earlier than normal, eat your breakfast and go for a walk.

“ Many things effect your life but none as much as you.”

Take a good long look at yourself. Don’t try to change everything overnight. Choose one thing about yourself or one habit you have that is negative and work on replacing it with a habit that is positive.

Quote from ‘My name is Earl’ : “ We tried replacing cigarettes with carrot sticks but we couldn’t get em to light”

Don’t let life get you down, build yourself and others up. Amen

How GREAT is God !!

So this year is coming to a close. I have posted about how on NYE I prayed and God told me that this was going to be a year where I bear a lot of fruit for His kingdom. Let me just sum up the things that I have observed this year.

Prior to 2010 I had preached at school assemblies, in class and at retreats but never in an actual church. Just days after the New Year began I was asked to preach at a satellite of my church. A few weeks after that I was invited to another satellite. During this year I have preached live on 2 different radio stations on 3 separate occasions, also another thing I had never done prior to my prayer on NYE.

I have had 3 occasions to share in the staff devotion, I have had a new pastoral care class with which I feel I am really making a connection and believe that there are some students in my class that God really wants me to reach out to. All of these things along with the things that I don’t even realize God was using me for !!

I am left with a feel of awe for what God will do in the last 7 weeks of 2010 and anticipation of the things to come in 2011. I am reminded of a song that used to play on TV every Christmas…” So this is Christmas and what have you done? Another year over and a new one just begun.” How has your year been ? GBU

He is always in control

Mathew 17 : 24-26

24After Jesus and his disciples arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma tax came to Peter and asked, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax?”

25″Yes, he does,” he replied.

When Peter came into the house, Jesus was the first to speak. “What do you think, Simon?” he asked. “From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes—from their own sons or from others?”

26″From others,” Peter answered.

“Then the sons are exempt,” Jesus said to him. 27″But so that we may not offend them, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours.”

For morning devotion at the school I work at there re 2 teachers assigned to each class. My partner and I take turns giving sermons and leading the 15 minutes we have with our class each morning. This morning she shared about how last week she was having a problem and without knowing it my sharing was very specific advice for her.

Even now I don’t remember the sharing I gave. Quite often I go to class with little or no idea what I am going to talk about and just talk about something I have heard or learnt in the past. But God is God and He is in control !!

Why didn’t Jesus just take a coin out of His pocket and hand it to Peter to pay the tax ? Because He wanted to make the point that He is in control of everything, nature, money, every circumstance, everything !

One of my favourite experiences as a Christian is when you have the revelation or ‘re-revelation (remember) that God is working in every aspect of your life. He knit us together in our mother’s womb, He clothes the lilies in the field (Matthew 6:27-29), He commanded the waves and wind to stop, He cures disease and HE LOVES YOU AND ME !! How wonderful that is, if He is with us, who is against us ?

Lean on Him today, trust in Him, have faith in Him. They are the key words in Christianity because that is what Christianity is all about. The fact that God is God and He has a beautiful plan. Love Him, trust Him and know that all things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28

GBU

Trust God

Whatever is happening in your life you need to REMEMBER that God is the creator of the universe.

Psalm 139 : 13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

Psalm 139 : 16       your eyes saw my unformed body.

All the days ordained for me

were written in your book

before one of them came to be.

God KNEW you before you were even born. WHATEVER is happening in your life, TRUST Him !! Have faith! Things may not be going well, you might be in pain or experiencing great angst or suffering BUT TRUST Him!!

Habakkuk 2:4b but the righteous will live by his faith

You ARE Righteous

2 Cor 5:21. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

So go and live with the faith that ‘all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)

Whatever is happening you have options :

1) 1) If it is in your control to change it, change it

2) 2) If it is the result of something you have done, learn from it

3) 3) If it is out of your control, trust God has a beautiful plan

4) 4) If it is something someone else has done to make you suffer, forgive and move on to love again.

Keep your eyes on Jesus and be determined to run the race to the end as well as you can bringing Him glory and honor on the way !!

God Bless You

2 Possibilities – 1 Response

I always used the analogy that the world was like the Titanic. It was going down and our job was to grab as many people and stick them on the ‘life boat’ as possible. Then a new train of though was presented to me and I entertained the notion that perhaps Christians will eventually work their way to the top of every area of life, politics, business, education etc.

My conclusion is that it doesn’t matter !! It doesn’t matter if the result of human greed will cause the destruction of the planet and at D-day a certain number of people will be saved and the rest will not. It doesn’t matter if eventually the entire planet will be a ‘Christian utopia’ and Jesus will descend from Heaven and thank us all for preparing the earth for His arrival.

What matters is MY response is the same :

Luke 10: 27 He answered: ” ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind and love your neighbor as yourself’

I can spend the rest of my life trying my best to do those two things. Then, if the world ends tomorrow, I am safe in the knowledge that I did all I could with the time I had available. If the earth takes my lifetime to evolve into a place where all people love God and surrender their life to Jesus, I am safe in the knowledge that I did all I could to bring that about and I have a place there.

GBU