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Friday, December 27, 2013

Will Just One Prayer Do?!?!

Luke 18:1
"Then Jesus told His disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up."
(Parable found in Luke 18:1-8)



How often do we think one prayer will do?  That if God doesn't answer it the first time we pray, He won't answer it at all?  How often do we overcomplicate prayer by thinking that with everything we need prayer for - ourselves or praying for other people, that talking to God once about it will suffice?  How often do we think we're becoming a burden or being a nuisance by constantly praying, asking, seeking God on a topic or two?

I know I've often thought and believed this, but oh how it is a lie! 
God wants us to ask! 
Does it not say is Matthew 7:7 to ask, seek, and knock?  Ask God.  Seek Him.  And talk to Him about it using His Word and continually knocking until the door is open?  Did Jesus not provide a parable for His disciples to not give up on praying and seeking God and His will no matter what?



If we gave into fully believing the lies earlier written wouldn't we in some ways be taking the control that we're trying to surrender to God back into our own hands? God wants us to continually commune with Him. He wants us to keep asking, seeking and knocking. Sometimes it is not the first prayer answered, but the hundredth. The fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much - persistent in all their ways. 

*Amy, the women's Director and a growing friend, whom I'm respecting more and more each day, here at Strong Tower, often says how thankful she is that her mum prayed the whole 10 years she (Amy) struggled with her addiction and didn't stop praying for her after nine years. How that we too need to hold steadfast in the Lord and trust in Him   Continue asking, seeking and knocking at His door. 


Pastor Michael Adams, the founder and pastor of Strong Tower, recently shared in class about how prayer isn't duty-bound, but that it's faith.  
Prayer is abiding in God and trusting in Him. Trusting that He'll answer our prayers and believing that He hears us. 

Romans 8:22-27 (NIV)
"We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God."

Prayer motivates our spirit and it gives permission for God to move. 
It is and can be a great struggle but it's also a great privilege. No matter how hard it is we should always continue to pray and hold onto God. He is our Rock and He's always listening.  He just wants us to open up to Him.  Why not start now?

NOTE (26 December 2013) 
* Amy is no longer at Strong Tower - this also means she is no longer the women's director either. Keep her in your prayers. 


Plugged In?!?!

(Saturday 20th of July 2013)

Sometimes in life we forget we need a main power source until we try to use an appliance or tool and wonder why it's not working. 

This happened last week with Audrey, Robyn and I. 

Whilst sanding on Thursday we realised that one of the sanders wasn't working and after a quick inspection we noticed that it wasn't plugged into the power point (outlet) inside. This was fixed immediately and sanding of the crosses was endeavoured by all three of us again.

 

How similar is this to our walk with God? We often get so caught up in the busyness of life that we don't stay connected to the Father, in every day happenings, and it's not until something that's out of our control or something that overwhelms us that we go running back to God and seeking His powerful and wise hand in our life.  Seeking His help. 

But this is not what it should be like. Not really. Because without staying connected to God, we try to use our own battery-powered abilities, instead of allowing God to charge us fully - who's waiting for us to plug into His source of life. 

It's through His word, the Bible, and talking to Him daily - surrendering every aspect of our life to him, that He is able to be a part of our life and it's the best thing we could do to surrender our lives and allow God to be Lord, Saviour, provider, strength, encourager, lover and healer, who has blessed us with an electrical current that nothing in this world could ever replicate. 

It's through Him alone we should find identity. And I know it is only Him that I need in this life alone.  He's my electrical current I'm going to continue to plug into, is He yours?




Daniel 10:19 TLB

God loves you very much... don't be afraid!  Calm yourself; be strong - yes, strong!
 
(An encouraging verse I found on the bottom of a scrap piece of paper)

A Blurred Reality

(Friday 12th of July 2013)

In coming to America I was adamant that I'd never transition to the American of words. That I'd always keep the Australian-United Kingdom spelling with the included 'u'(s) and 's'(s) instead of 'z'(s). 

At first this was fairly easy to maintain, in fact I often became a little poignant when I saw an American spelt word and yes a little excited and prideful when on the rare occasion I saw an Australian spelled word. However over time the clarity of recognising and even writing the Australian UK words over the American spelled words began to blur and became harder to distinguish. 

When realising and pondering my immersion into American culture, including spelling, I began to realise how similar this is to our walk in life and our battle with temptations and sin.  When we first see something wrong or sinful we can clearly distinguish the right thing from the wrong thing. We try to justify it, realise it, and try get around it. But deep down we know it's sin. We know it's wrong but the moment we do it (sin) the less we can clearly distinguish and recognise the difference. 

The Australian Youth With A Mission's Dean of education (a position in YWAM's University of the Nations) Mark Brokenshire shared with the class I was sitting in when I was at YWAM Newcastle (New South Wales, Australia) in 2011, that sin was like a cliff edge.   

We try to see how close we can get to the cliff edge, wanting the excitement, the adrenaline, the view, but then getting super close to the edge, we take a wrong step and then we're gone. 

We can do that with temptations and simple things too. Trying to see how much we can dabble in in it - how close we can get to the edge of a cliff, thinking we're not really doing that bad a thing.  It's not as bad as something else, that someone else has done and as a result, we don't realise the cliff edge when it comes. 

We are so busy comparing ourselves to other people and trying to rationalise and justify that what we are doing isn't that bad, is that different to other peoples actions that we hit the cliff edge and before we know it we're going falling to our deaths. 

The more we sin, the more blurred the clarity of right from wrong becomes and the harder it will be to hear God as well.  It's like James 1:19 - 20 says 
"My Christian brothers you know everyone should listen much and speak little. He should be slow to anger. A man's anger does not allow him to be right with God."

Romans 6:12-13 also reiterates this with "In the same way count yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Do not offer the parts of your body as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to Him as instruments of righteousness. 

Got does not want us to sin, therefore should we be tempted to even gamble with what is "sin" and what is not? 

It doesn't matter if other people are doing it, if it doesn't line up with God's Word, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit, or our conscience convicts us of it, even if it's only a little, - we should not even partake in a second of it. 

God asked us to be like Him and to be pure of heart and if we truly love Him and fear Him (out of reverence, respect and honour) we should obey Him and His directions whether it's from Him personally or a spiritual leader in our lives e.g. Pastor, teacher, law-enforcement, parents etc. 

They are all in leadership for a reason and as in Ephesians 6:1-9 says they have our best interest in mind and we have the responsibility to honour and a pay them with respect and reverence. 

It's truly our choice but Romans 6:12 says one brings life and one brings death. It's all in our hands. I know which one I'd choose.  How about you? 

Further readings - Matthew 7:13-14; Matthew 19:16-30; Proverbs 21:16

Blog posts handwritten earlier in the year...

I'm finally getting around to uploading some of the posts I handwrote earlier in the year now... Most of them have dates so you can see when it was written but I'll make sure my latest update, after these, will be dated with the current date. Merry Christmas y'all. 

Friday, December 20, 2013

ROAD TRIP!

Hey y'all. 
So I haven't been online in a long time, which has meant a lot of you haven't heard from me.  So I'll give you a quick update...

I'm still at Strong Tower Ministries (www.urmystrongtower.com) and am now a serving leader, known also as an intern (whilst being a student - graduating the student part in April/May 2014). This has meant a huge shift in perspectives and a reality shift. 

My address is still the same at 
7801 Burns Street
Hitchcock, Tx 77563
USA

So if you have time, drop a line - I'd love to hear how you're going and get in touch again. 

It also means I'm helping with the weekend (and sometimes weekday) fundraisers. Here we sell crosses (that we've hand made) and ask for donations - often in front of Walmart or Sam's Club, rain, hail, snow and shine (for around 10-12 hours each day). 

A privilege though has been being allowed access to the internet on my downtime on the weekends (only when I'm leading a crew - which doesn't happen too often). So I'm going to try to update y'all with what's been happening when that opportunity arises. --> I've only had that chance 3 times in the past 2 months though so it doesn't happen too often and is probably around an hour total. But I do want to keep in touch - so snail mail is the best way, as I don't have too much time to reply to emails or Facebook and also don't want my phone internet to become a distractant from my walk with God. 

But the last two days a couple girls and I were fundraising just down the road in Santa Fe (Texas) and arriving back at Strong Tower tonight, was told we had to pack our bags immediately to join another crew, and now we are heading to Nebraska City and Lawerence (Nebraska) and Hiawatha, Kansas. It's a 13 hour drive, but it's an opportunity to represent God and ST and provide an open door for anyone wanting help to break free of their problems, whether it's drugs, alcohol, depression, domestic violence, homelessness, or wanting a fresh start after prison or jail - any life controlling issues. 

So if you could pray for safe travels, weather and unity and selflessness that'd be great. 

We are also leaving Monday to go on our Christmas break, many of us with flights and bus trips that we have to make - so if you could pray that we make it back before our flights that'd be great. 

Merry Christmas y'all too!!! Know that I love you and am so thankful for your support. 

Thursday, December 19, 2013

I miss these beautiful women of God!

Merry Christmas to the best small group ever!!!










Today's Fundraising Escapade - Arlan's Market, Santa Fe (Texas)



Zuri and I enjoying the warmth of the sun and the rare blessing of fundraising on the inside with seats :)


This is today's layout. Usually we are set up outside walmart, rain, hail, snow or shine, but God blessed us by having us indoors today. 

Melissa and Missy next to the table. Arlan's even provided us with chairs :) BLESSING!!!

Some of the handmade crosses we make - ranging from $5 up to the usual $50, with an $80 cross also in this mix as the trophy piece. 


Here's a few more :) a good day overall. 

Pray for the lost, forgotten and rejected and abandoned, that they will see the light through Christ's disciples and will not run but pursue. That we, as Christians will be holders of that light, stepping up out of this world, as true representatives of Christ, never sinking in our flesh but clothing ourselves (by Christ's hands) in Christ's robes. 

Devotional by Stellar Kart

Never Left Your Side

"Never Left Your Side" is a song that talks about God's unfailing love, even when we can't see the big picture. I was reading about Job and how God took everything from him, just to return to him more than he had in the first place. God ultimately rewarded Job's faithfulness, but He allowed him to go through extreme hardship to test his character and devotion. God's plan is perfect. He wants us to believe in Him and trust Him, even when we can't see the end goal. The lyrics say, "The sun's still shining through the night, the stars still burn in the daylight, sometimes you just can't trust your eyes. I never left your side." I need to be reminded of this constantly. God doesn't promise us that life will be easy. He doesn't promise that it will be fair. He doesn't even promise that we'll ever understand why we go through what we go through. He does promise that He is always with us, and that is all we need.

JOB 23:8-14

“But if I go to the east, he is not there; if I go to the west, I do not find him. When he is at work in the north, I do not see him; when he turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of him. But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold. My feet have closely followed his steps; I have kept to his way without turning aside. I have not departed from the commands of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread. “But he stands alone, and who can oppose him? He does whatever he pleases. He carries out his decree against me, and many such plans he still has in store. (Job 23:8-14 NIV)


JOB 42:12-17

The Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the former part. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkeys. And he also had seven sons and three daughters. The first daughter he named Jemimah, the second Keziah and the third Keren-Happuch. Nowhere in all the land were there found women as beautiful as Job’s daughters, and their father granted them an inheritance along with their brothers. After this, Job lived a hundred and forty years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. And so Job died, an old man and full of years. (Job 42:12-17 NIV)


HEBREWS 11:1-40

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead. By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.” For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith. By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise. And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore. All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death. By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future. By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff. By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions concerning the burial of his bones. By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict. By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. By faith he kept the Passover and the application of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel. By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned. By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the army had marched around them for seven days. By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient. And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground. These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect. (Hebrews 11:1-40 NIV)



Psalm 27:7

Hear my voice when I call, Lord; be merciful to me and answer me.

http://bible.com/111/psa.27.7.niv