Where Do You Invest? Where is Your Deposit?

Do we not long for personal healthy finances?

I am not talking about the greed of wanting millions of pounds or dollars in the bank.

I mean just that we have enough money to pay our way and maybe just that little bit in case of that “emergency” that comes along.

That time when you just need to reach into your residue of funds and make a withdrawal to help you out of that emergency.

Do we apply good stewardship over our finances?

Do we learn to work to a personal or family budget so we have enough to see us through each week or each month?

We live in financially turbulent times.

Many people have lived outside of that good “stewardship”.

Many have used finance that they had not “earned” by taking on credit, by taking on a debt that so often we cannot pay back.

Too many so often live for the “now” for the “immediate” and do not make any investment at all, no matter how small into our future

A good steward, a wise man, would make financial plans for the future.

A good steward will consider that the “emergency” may come and plan to prepare for such a circumstance and put aside some savings, or invest in a pension.

A good steward will use what they have earned not what they may earn or hope to earn in the future.

A good steward will be making deposits in their “savings” account.

Well how is it with the Kingdom of God?

Are we making deposits in the Kingdom of God?

When we want to make a withdrawal is there something there to draw on?

Are we tithing my time and making my investments count?

Are we investing in the future and planning for those “emergencies”?

Are we creating a “savings” account that we can draw upon when we need to?

I am not referring to money in this instance. Of course good financial stewardship and financially investing in the Kingdoms work on Earth is quite right. But money is not the investment I am writing about.

How much time do we invest in the scriptures?

When we want to recall something from the Bible have we made Kingdom deposits so that when we call upon scripture there is a deposit there that we can withdraw from?

Are we tithing our time so we spend that time growing deeper into His word?

When that “emergency”  happens, when you are called upon to recall something from scripture have you spent the time investing and building the storehouse so that when we call upon it there is something for you to grab hold of?

Just as we need to, and in most cases really want to, be careful with the finances we have and make good solid decisions in what we use those monies for, so should we also be careful in what we do with the far more precious gift of the Holy Bible. 

We need to invest our time each and every day building a surplus of understanding and familiarity and when we need to call upon it we can be confident that there is a suitable deposit stored up for us that we can know it is there when we need it.

Invest wisely. 

Invest in God. 

Invest in the Word. 

And build up an investment that, unlike our money, is guaranteed to be safe and secure for today and all time.

God Bless

I Corinthians 13 Re-Write

Recently in our Life Group we were asked to look at 1 Corinthians 13 and re-write the chapter in our own words.

So this is it: Please have a read if you would and just ponder what this passage means to you, and maybe write your own version, it was a great experience. God Bless You All:

1 Corinthians 13 (MySpiritSings Re-Write)

Even though I play the guitar and sing, it’s going to be flat if I don’t have a love and passion deep within me that brings those things out, then it’s just pretend, a front, unreal, in fact, it would be a lie. I can write and speak about so many things but again if I do not do all that with love in my heart then it is a lie.

It’s amazing when you take time to speak with the homeless, the Big Issue seller, who really is annoying sometimes with his “Please bye my magazine”, or as Simon shouts in Norwich, “Come and form a queue to buy my Big Issue”, the story that exists under the surface of what they “appear” to be. Looks are deceiving and are often based on my own bias. It is love and not pity that must drive my reason for engaging with them, for providing some financial and practical help.

Only through love can I ever hope to learn to be patient when others frustrate me, when situations come on top of me, to be kind to those I don’t really want to be kind to because it is too much hassle. And it’s no good talking about what I do at all, unless it is to encourage others, to uplift them, and it is always said without boasting and simply in love. I need to absorb God’s love deep inside me infusing every part of me so that I can honour those around me.

And Love just surpasses everything else that exists. No greater love has ever been demonstrated than God’s love for me. And because of His abundant love for me I am always protected from the arrows that fly at me, and all through that I can always trust that He has everything in hand, I have a constant hope for my present and my future and He will never stop loving me and bringing the course of my life into alignment with His plans and purposes.

I hear God’s voice speaking over me, the Prophets He has set aside speak encouragement over my life, and I know they are filled with my Daddy’s love and concern for my life. But those will change for me as they are fulfilled and as my life changes. But God’s single constant through my life in His abundant love. And one day I will be shown what I can only imagine, I will know what now I can only guess and surmise about. On that final day when Jesus comes to take me home everything will become whole in a way I can never dream is possible.

Years have passed me by, I first told Jesus I loved Him when I was 6, and I was only able to understand that He was my “friend” and I knew there were great stories about everything He completed in such a short life time. I was fed with small pieces of knowledge at a level at which I could understand at that time. But as I grew up I was fed more knowledge, I gained a greater understanding and awareness of who God was and is and what He had done for me because of His undying grace and love. As I have grown and matured I have been taught and nurtured in ways that I could never have understood or coped with a s a child.

On Earth I see so many good and anointed things, things that can only have come from God’s grace and love, but I know that this is only a part of what is still to come, and if my life on Earth finishes tomorrow then for those left behind there is still far more to come. When He finally takes me home Daddy will show me the realities of what I can only have hope and faith for, and in, now.

My faith is how I try to build the foundations of my life. I sometimes make an error or two, but my faith in Father God comes through. I have a certain and sure hope that He will take me home in His timing, and on His terms, but I know that He has prepared a place for me at His right hand. And over all of this every day in all things I find Father’s love poring through and I ask and pray that His love will become more evident in my life and become that impact in and on the lives of others regardless of their faith or lack of hope. God calls me to love everyone, they may not have a faith or a hope but they can have love and they can receive love.

That is why the greatest thing I can be shown and I can show to others is LOVE. 

Amen.

 

THE PATHWAY AND FAITH

Our God is simply amazing! He knows everything; He sees our needs (He sees all our desires but promises to satisfy our “needs”: I want a 1960’s Fender Strat - (that’s a guitar by the way) but I defiantly do not “need” one!!) He loves us without condition and He delivers on His promises “I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper and not to harm you”

We set out on our walk in our Christian life and at the start we are usually excited, buoyant, energetic, enthusiastic, infectious etc. And after we have been on that walk for a while and we find it’s a long and sometimes difficult one the edge goes off of our excitement, we are less enthusiastic not as “up” as we possibly should be and we wonder if we are on the correct path and if we should keep going.

Well Father God has given us a tool we can use to maintain our focus and to keep our enthusiasm and to boldly march out on the pathway He has set even when it is beset with obstacles and hurdles to get over:

FAITH

But what is that?

Politicians tell us to have faith in their policies but they let us down. Leading figures in sport, entertainments etc. ask us to put our faith in them but they let us down. Mum and Dad, Husband and Wife, Son and Daughter, Friends and the Church all tells us we can trust them but they let us down. We are not too good at this.

BUT God does not let us down. He will ALWAYS fulfil the purpose and plan He has in my life and yours. He will ALWAYS deliver on the promises that He makes and on that foundation alone we can place our FAITH

I know my path has been laid out before me by Almighty God. I do not always know where the path will lead and I cannot always see the end of that path but I know that God has a reason for everything going the way it does and being the way it is. It's not always clear to us but it is His plan nonetheless.  That’s where we can use that tool, that piece of armour He gives us – FAITH – sometime hard to define and explain but I know I am guided by my Faith and it means I know my pathway is going to bring a good outcome even if I don’t know how I will reach the end I know that the end will be what God has called me into

So we can sit down on our posteriors and do nothing and stay really safe and never be on the true pathway and never realise what it is God ultimately has planned for us OR we can take a step forward onto the Pathway accept that we may make mistakes and know that we are trusting on God because we cannot do this thing on our own and we can use the FAITH that God has given us all and finally reach the destiny that Daddy has prepared for me/us

God Bless

A New Start

Well January 7th 2013 was definitely a new start for me.

After spending 6 months out of work and using the Job Seekers Allowance system to try and simply "tread water" for my family and me, God delivered on His promise.

It is not the first time and it will not be the last time that I quote from Jeremiah 29 and verse 11:

" For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future"

But when you are right in the middle of your life falling apart, your finances in rack and ruin (even if much of it was your own fault) when you receive nothing but rejection at job interviews for the strangest of reasons which are never explained ("We feel you would not fit our company culturally" - WHAT???!!!) and when you keep "trying" to do things your way, it's hard to embrace the truth of that verse, the promise from God and remember that God NEVER breaks His promises.

Whilst I did not experience anything approaching the things Job went through I do feel as though I was given a glimpse of the circumstances he was presented with. And Job remained firm on God's promise despite the circumstances he found himself in. And the truth is I am sure Job must have thought at times "what have I done??" he stood firm and trusted God.

Well I do not claim to be a Job, but I do declare that even with doubts in my mind at times I continued to seek after God, continued to ask Him to open the right doors to give me the right opportunities to show me the right path and I declared that I would hold onto the promises declared in Jeremiah 29.

The plans He has for us are to prosper us to give us a hope and a future.

Well PRAISE GOD that is exactly what He did. Not just giving me THE JOB (within the business world) that if I had free choice to walk into every job, this would have been the one, but to go beyond that. Isn't that just like a loving Father. Not satisfied with giving us what we ask for and what we need (a job, an income) He goes beyond that and blessed me with a salary that is the highest I have ever been paid. HALLELUJAH. I don't say that to boast I say that to give the glory back to God. And when I eventually finish the current story I am trying to write about where we are now, it can be clearly seen why that additional blessing is so important right now.

But then God KEEPS ON BLESSING:

During my last year with Heinz I worked with a simply amazing guy, a Christian, whom I miss and love dearly, Peter Eilers. We have maintained contact through Facebook and one day I truly hope that we can get together again. Peter and his wife have moved back to the USA and are living in Seattle. I cannot tell how fantastic it was to work alongside this Christian brother. Also during the last year I had discovered three or four other Christians in the wider procurement team, Peter had introduced me to a weekly prayer group that met and even amongst the new employees that came on board during 2011/12 a really strong Christian guy joined and tried to start a similar prayer gathering in the new European office in Zeist Holland. So things were really quite exciting in the company.

So last week during a "chat" conversation with a colleague at my new company IBM, I mentioned that we had been blessed with six children. This lady had just returned to the business after maternity leave hence the discussion around children. I had probably used the word "blessed" twice. She typed into the chat box "I hope you don't mind me asking but are you a Christian?" A very quick reply went back with "No I don't mind and Yes I am" - There was an almost audible hallelujah - "so am I" came back the message. I was the first other Christian she had found in the organisation - I just think it was another one of those very special Godincidencies.......................

So a promise from God fulfilled, a new start, a financial blessing and to top it off within the first 4 weeks I make contact with another Christian

Just hold onto His promises, His timing and His goodness will pour out into your life

Amen

WAITING FOR REVIVAL

REVIVAL:

I hear people talking about it and see people posting about it and I am all for it BUT it appears sometimes all people are doing is waiting and searching for it………..well some old news for us all…………the waiting is over REVIVAL is HERE and REVIVAL is NOW!!!!!

You see REVIVAL starts with ME and YOU wherever we are in our day to day lives. At home, work, socialising, shopping, playing sport, simply everywhere that we are. We just have to be willing to step out of our own plans and step into what God opens up for us each and every day and react to the opportunities He provides. And it’s no good waiting till you are being really “good” because in truth it will be too late then, we will be made “pure” when we are in Heaven and there would be no need for REVIVAL. No God can and will use us regardless of our circumstances; He will use us despite those circumstances and not because of them.

I am delighted to be part of some wonderful people who meet regularly in prayer and worship in response to a prophecy given over a year ago that national revival will come to the UK and it will emanate from Norfolk. We are a diverse group of people where denomination is completely ignored and we are focused on praising our Heavenly Father and seeking His guidance in all that we do. We fervently believe that the time is coming, that it is nigh, that a great move of His Holy Spirit will descend across Norfolk moving out over the UK. However I do not think anyone associated with that group is sitting at home, or in the chair or pew of their church just “waiting” for revival to come. Every church, every individual, is learning to step out into situations we would not normally do and be used by Daddy God to rekindle the flame that once burnt passionately in this land for the things of Heaven. Think of the word. REVIVAL is to “bring back”. You cannot REVIVE something that was never there.

So: If you are waiting for REVIVAL you may have a long wait. If you want to see this county (Norfolk or wherever you are), this country (England or wherever you are) REVIVED to the glory of the Father then GET UP and BE SOMEWHERE where you can BE GODS LOVE and where you can, through the strength of His Holy Spirit, be a CATALYST to trigger REVIVAL in your town, village, community, street!!!! REVIVAL is HERE it’s NOW and it’s through YOU!!!

GOD BLESS

AN UNTOLD STORY

So after previously trying to be way too clever with these thoughts and musings four months ago I am going to try and put these together in a far shorter way.

Firstly may I remind you of the verses I was pondering over:

Luke 2 vs. 36 – 38

“Anna, a prophet, was also there in the Temple. She was the daughter of Phanuel from the tribe of Asher, and she was very old. Her husband died when they had been married only seven years. Then she lived as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the Temple but stayed there day and night, worshiping God with fasting and prayer. She came along just as Simeon was talking with Mary and Joseph, and she began praising God. She talked about the child to everyone who had been waiting expectantly for God to rescue Jerusalem.”

Do you ever wonder why you read about an odd character in the Bible and do not get the “full story” of who they are? They appear once and then they are gone. No, or very little, history on their background and noting to say what happens in their future.

Do you ever consider the significance of such characters?

I do not believe anything in the Bible is there by chance, or in error. Everything written has been done so in accordance with God’s will, the writers, writing, in tune with the prompting of the Holy Spirit their hands and thoughts guided by Him.

So in the Bible there are just these three verses recorded that contain this woman Anna. That’s not a great deal but it is more than some people in the Bible get. So what do we know fairly certainly about Anna from these three verses?

Her name was Anna

She was a daughter of Phanuel
She was a prophet(ess)
She was a member of the tribe of Asher
She was widowed after seven years of marriage
She was now very old
She was holy and devout and she regularly practiced prayer, praise and fasting
She spent most of her life in the House of God – the temple

So the above few highlighted comments are obvious and easy to see within the passage. So what is their significance?

Anna: Anna is probably derived from “Hannah” but both versions of the name carry the same meaning which is “favour” or “grace”. An interesting point is that the first “Hannah” I can find in the bible was also a Prophetess, and she was the mother of Samuel. There are also strong parallels between the birth of Samuel and that of Jesus.

Phanuel: Phanuel’s name means “the face of God”

A Prophet(ess): A prophet is a spokesperson for God. The prophet challenges, warns, directs, encourages, intercedes, teaches and counsels God’s people. He/she brings the word of God to the people of God and calls the people to respond to that word. The prophetic ministry begins in the presence of the Lord. When the prophet knows the heart and mind of the Lord, he/she speaks the word of the Lord to his people. He/she stands before the people, as one who has stood before God. Because his/her words come from the heart of God they are powerful and effective

Tribe Of Asher: is among the ten lost tribes of Israel

Widowed: in these times a girl became a woman around the age of 14 or 15 and this was the usual age of marriage. We then know that she had been widowed at a very young age, around 22.

Age: I have found two streams of thinking about Anna’s age. One that she was now 84 at the time Luke wrote this, and some say that what Luke was saying was that after the death of her husband she lived for 84 years as a widow before she met Jesus as a baby. That would have made her around 106 years old. Either way she was not a young person, but one that had been through some real "life" experiences as so many of us do.

Dedicated: we are told she was devout and also that she visited the temple DAILY. She did not live there but made it her duty to visit the temple each and every day.

So why do I believe these three verses are significant and important?

Here is someone who at a very young age was dealt a terrible blow, the loss of her partner. At that stage she could have just turned away from God, hated Him for that happening, abandoned the teachings she would have received and basically given up on life. But that was not Anna. She chose to dedicate her life to God. She chose to persevere each and every day faithfully spending time before Him just waiting for His promises for her and for mankind to come to fruition.

Surely she must have felt like giving up – haven’t we when things are a bit tough, when things don’t happen the way “we” want or the way “we” expect them too and when things take far longer than we have the patience for. I am sure there were those times but I am equally sure that she got through those times and remained faithful attending the temple on a daily basis.

And just when she may have been thinking she was too old and she had missed whatever God had planned for her suddenly God’s perfect timing came about, and she was in the temple when Joseph and Mary brought Jesus as a baby to the temple. After this she didn’t sit back and think well that’s it now I can relax. No it says that she “talked about the child to everyone who had been waiting expectantly for God to rescue Jerusalem”!! She continued in the ministry she had been given proclaiming the arrival of Jesus Christ

We may not see our purpose in God’s plan, we may not think there is anything left for us to do, BUT God has plans for all of us until our final day, and we need to be Anna’s faithfully seeking God’s purpose for our lives each and every day and keep pressing into Him without ceasing

Three small verses rarely referred to at Christmas but have so much to say to each and every one of us

God Bless

FINALLY: THE RETURN

Well hello everyone, yes I have returned. I cannot really believe that over 4 months have passed since my last post on this blog site.

 

So much has been going on in my life that I let my focus shift away from what I think God was using within these blogs and I have now been brought back to them. Some of what has happened and the experiences that I am now going through will unfold in these pages over the coming months.

It was a recent coffee with a good friend that made me really think about these blogs and their value. This guy is a superb bloke, a husband and father, and has a challenging job in a challenging industry. I think he will probably read this when he sees the various posts and links again, and I hope he will not mind me saying the following.

 

He said something profound to me about this site. The reason it had a profound impact is that he wasn’t what I had thought was my “targeted” audience.

You see I predominantly write about what I think is being revealed to me in my Christian life through Father God, both the good things He highlights but also my short comings and therefore sometimes the short comings of the “church”. As far as I am aware my friend is not a regular church goer, and as I think back I don’t think we have ever gone onto any depth about what he may or may not believe about God, however he is someone who’s company I enjoy and whose stories I enjoy sharing through his own writings.

 

Anyway we had a bit of an open chat about what was going on with my life and he said he hadn’t seen the blogs for a while and that “he had missed reading them because he enjoyed what they had to say”, in particular he enjoyed “reading a truthful analysis of where I was at in my Christian life”, which as I have said can be great places as well as difficult ones.

So I reflected on that over the past week and have decided to try and commit time to continue writing this blog. There are new things taking place in my life, some amazing challenges and lessons learnt, and some amazing blessings even in the midst of hard times, and a new freedom through a negative situation. Now there is a lot in that sentence that is cryptic and a lot I have to decide on how much to unpack and how vulnerable I make myself, not that I am afraid of vulnerability, I just have to know that it is for His glory and not for self enhancement.

So my next blog will be to close out the series I had left hanging at the start of June and just write it up in a much simpler format than I had previously attempted as I share why three verses in Luke (Luke 2 vs. 36 – 38) are so significant, and how those three verses just demonstrate, as did my conversation with my friend, that we can never fully know the impact we have on those around us when we simply allow God to lead and we follow His leading

God Bless you All, forgive my absence and I pray that God provides me insights that can be shared to encourage His people.

Amen