Love Stories

I have a difficult time learning to be present in the moment.  I have the Martha curse….I’m cannot sit very still because I find that I always looking for something to do.  It is very hard for me to sit and wait; however God is teaching me here.  Here is what I know – you are in trouble when you stop hearing your kids after they ask you the same question 3x!

Well, last week was great.   I didn’t leave the church till 1:30pm.  There were great conversations and interactions and stories with people.  Our family grabbed Subway, sat down; but only to realize that I needed to take my daughter Bryn into emerg.  As it turned out, I could have just sat there and been oblivious to the other people in the room.   This time it was different. 

I noticed a young girl with what looked to be a broken wrist from a soccer match

I noticed a young father struggling with infant daughter…as the baby bottle smashed to the ground and I was able to help out and the 3.5 hours flew by…well, almost. 

So, here we are talking about a new vision…  Our vision for Grace is new, but it’s not new

A time and a place where #love abounds.

Jesus even saw this as a new command…but surely the people had heard about love in the OT.

John 13:34,35   A new commandment that I give unto you that you love one another as I have loved you.

What is new about the new commandment?

What is new?....as I have loved you.

The commandment to love one another is new because we are called to live out the love of Jesus.  The OT didn’t even have this challenge.  Jesus.  The pattern is new. 

It is new because it is live ON the love of Jesus.  The power of love is new.

We can’t do anything of any spiritual significance without abiding in Christ.  “Without me you can do nothing.”

I command you – love each other

If you are a follower of Jesus, you are a person under authority.  Your life is guided by commands from Jesus who is my authority?

This is my self identity.

Jesus comes to you with more than just commands, but not less.

Love being loved by my Father!  Abide in His love. 

What in our experience corresponds -   to trust Him to meet all my needs and to be all my treasure

Resist the negative thoughts by faith…trust Him for what He wants to do through you today.

I’m not naturally a loving person, but I’m going to abide in the vine!

Love is the response that listens to the heart of another soul

1.       Love on The Vine

John 15:9-13

9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.

10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.

11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.

12This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

There is a key word here that is used in the greek (katameno) that the KJV captures as the word “abide”   I really like this word in particular as it relates to the kind of love we need to experience in order to love one another.

The word abide  can be translated dwell, remain, continue, or stay and we see that in the newer translations.  But what do those mean? We may hear those and think, “I must simply do nothing.” If you told a child, “Don’t move – stay right there!” you would expect the child to simply sit or stand there and do nothing. Stay might be thought of as inactivity.  After all, how do you really abide in Christ and for that matter Christ in you.

However inactivity is not what Jesus had in mind for us.  He wants us to understand what it means to live very closely to Him so that it our movement with Christ becomes very real to us.  Abiding in Christ means I want you to follow me wherever I go.  So in actuality it is activity not inactivity we are called to.

Jesus uses the symbiotic relationship between the vine and its branches SO…

In order for a branch to bear fruit it has to be in harmony with the fruit-bearing agenda of the vine. It has to be participating in the vine’s business of fruit production.

Abiding in Christ is a reference to the close continuum of a relationship with God in Christ.  The word abide calls  us to a place of vigilance so that we don’t allow our union with Him to be interrupted.  So, it is really a sustained conscious communion with God.

“To abide in Christ signifies the constant occupation of the heart with Him—a daily active faith in Him which, so to speak, maintains the dependency of the branch upon the vine, and the circulation of life and fatness of the vine in the branch.”  A W Pink

It is not just a heady concept, it was meant to be the real conscious experience of my union with Christ.  It is also an interaction that was meant to be burdensome; however it is not just automatic.

We are told in Hebrews 4:11 to make every effort to enter that rest

In order for the love producing fruit to be experienced in our life, we really need to practically live out “abiding in Christ”

Most Christians would look quizzically when you talk about remaining in Christ or dwelling in Him for that matter

It is not a religious formality that you can check off like you would in completing a degree in school.  It is not about doing some form of spiritual exercise in order for God to love you.

 You are not loved for what you do.  You are a loved child of God (period)!  However, if you ask a fellow Christian, ‘how is your walk with God?’  99% of the time people will define it by whether they are having a ‘quiet time’

More than anything, we need  to pay attention to what God is doing.  For many of us in our Western culture, we have a linear mindset…meaning if I spend  x amount of time with God, than y will happen.

My question is this, “how do we practically abide?”  My response is find the right atmosphere. 

It begins with repentance and that is a major player in our journey.  Repentance means that a change of mind is taking place in me that results in a change of behavior.

For me the right atmosphere of abiding begins with prayer on my knees.  It will also include a time of reading Scripture and ‘two way journalling’ where I write down what I sense God speaking to me about and also time for me to listen ask a very simple question, “LORD, what is it that you want me to know today.

Archbishop William Temple once said, “Your religion is what you do with your solitude.” In other words, the true god of your heart is what your thoughts effortlessly go to when there is nothing else demanding your attention.

If I’m honest, it is very easy for my thoughts to go to sports updates or checking my banking statements.

Don’t expect abiding to just happen like an app that you can download in just a minute or less.

Discover what it means for us to draw near to God and to enter into the holies of holy.

I’ve had people tell me in those times God has challenged them to very different things and this is where the love flows -

·         Some have felt led to take off their shoes and socks off and imagine themselves walking on holy ground

·         Some have used a empty chair to remind them that Abba Father is in the room

·         Some have spoken of the simple words that they have heard….love your wife…love your kids.

·         OR strong impressions…Bless this person with x amount of dollars

·         I will never forget a simple act of love that had a profound effect on me.  It was during the time that I was a student and attending a local church in London, ON.  Following the service, the pastor shook my hand, typical, yes, but then he took a moment to squeeze my shoulder.  In that moment I felt cared for.

The real treasure for us is the realization that life that emanates from His presence in us and through us.

As I shared…  Abide can be translated dwell, remain, continue,  and the end result is that there should be visible signs of the expression of that love.    Abiding isn’t just for our alone time with God, it is going to be seen by others!

When you get to see that fruit in another person’s life, it is very powerful.

 Love on the vine is made visible by its fruit!  The fruit of the expression of our lives will come in real tangible acts of love for one another

·         A family found a significant amount of money while on vacation this summer and knew right away that it wasn’t for them and they were able to bless Pastor James last Sunday in their home and actually matched themselves what they found.

·         I was also at Nathan and Julie’s home the other day and so blessed to see a home transformed because love paints

However before you get to see the fruit there are two more things that you need to see happening with this word abide in the previous chapter.

Abide speaks of our relationship with the Holy Spirit

In order to show this kind of love, you need to understand that abide is “being filled with the Spirit.”  “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever – the Spirit of truth,  John 14:16,17  KJV Abide is the language of relationship, the language of interaction

To the extent that your heart and mind are yielded to the Spirit of God, you can trust your own thoughts in that place of abiding.

Abiding in truth is not just, moral principles and application. Does the Bible have them? Absolutely. But our hearts are not changed by the commands of the Law. Our hearts are changed when they overflow with love for the Savior. As we experience the grace of what God has done for us in Christ, our hearts are free to worship and obey.

Our ability to obey has to be grounded in the truth of the gospel and in the power of the Holy Spirit who enables us to obey in love.

Abide also speaks of a “reveal” 

John 14:21, Jesus says the same thing, but He uses the word manifest. To abide in Christ is to have Christ manifested to you on an ongoing basis.

²⁰ On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. ²¹ Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.

²² Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world?

²³ Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

Love in The Dining Room

We had a powerful time with Pastor James in our home on Monday night as we had opportunity to pray over him and his wife.

Kerry’s love story 

Kerry this spring related her own story to us as a staff team.  We had the opportunity to visit with her and she was at the point where physically she felt like she could do nothin but lie on her couch as she battles with cancer.

She discovered in Jesus act of washing the disciples’ feet for it to be an act of pure love.

Jesus was at the point where there was nothing that he could physically do for his disciples.  He knew that the time of His death was coming and this is what He could do.

Kerry spoke with us about how through the process of coming to grips with cancer in her life that God first asked her to trust Chris with Him as an act of faith in literally being  willing to lay down her life.  She then spoke of how God asked her to trust Him with her children and be willing to place them in His hands.

As you commit to abiding in Christ, I want you to complete one or more of the following exercises.

1.      Write a love letter to Jesus.  Begin with the following words.  Jesus, I love you because…     

2.      Ask the following question and listen for His still small voice.  Jesus, what do you want me to know about your love today?  (This is a step harder than exercise one as you need to trust the Spirit to give you a word or a Scripture or possibly even more as you sense a spontaneous flow or impression being revealed to you.

3.       Share with someone else what stood out most to you about Kerry’s love story.

4.       Set a coffee date with someone today and commit to sharing a “love story” with them of a time when you knew God’s love for you.

A Most Excellent Way!

A Most Excellent Way

A new vision for Grace.

I want to begin first by sharing about the journey.

·         A call to wait on the LORD

We began this fall with a series to “hurry up and wait on the LORD”    Hurry up defines our culture where we often want a response right away, but it also spoke to the fact that we needed to hear a fresh and anew from God.  We began with a day of prayer

Hurry up also is about our need to step into our calling, to discover and believe it. We initiate it by faith, embrace it with passion and commit to it with wholehearted devotion.

As pastors we all were experiencing different levels of dissatisfaction and for me personally, it kept me awake at night.  I went for sleep tests, blood tests and even got a new mattress!  The doctor confirmed I was healthy and didn’t have sleep apnea; however, I was still waking up with great restlessness in the night. I knew something had to change.  The question we couldn’t definitively answer was “where are we going as a church”.  I can remember being challenged on this question and not having a divinitive answer.  In fact, I went silent…there were many good things happening at Grace but where was it all moving us towards?

Our vision had become foggy as pastors.  We were doing good things all in our own little corners of Grace, but we were missing a real sense of connection to other.  Yes, we had started praying together more, but a shift needed to take place. 

·         A call to listen

As we left for Niagara-On-The-Lake all of us as pastors each were sent a text message from a member of Grace. 

It said, “have a great couple of days, rest in His presence, seek Him out and listen.  I am thinking this is weird to sent this but I have an impression that something that will be heard or said will be impactful.  The other thing is don’t look for it.”

As we walked together we began praying into that desire that God would lead us and our time together began with a real time of vulnerability where we became very transparent about the fears that we most succumb to whether that be rejection, embarrassment or inferiority.  What is fear anyways…it is false evidence appearing real!

·         A call to unity

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, members of our wise and very discerning leadership team  sat us down with us for the duration of the day of the Friday and we were able to speak with honesty about the issues that were front and center with each of us.  There was real openness and heart to heart conversation that took place coupled with prayer and I can say that we truly feel closer to each other than we ever have.  We realized the importance of showing greater trust and allegiance for each other as pastors.  We made commitments to moving forward with unity and the synergy that will result as we work more closely together.

With the rest of the leadership team, we prayed and reflected on the rebuilding themes of the temple and wall in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. It was so good. 

Thoughts included:

·         20 year olds were involved in the supervision of the work

·         They took time to celebrate when the foundation of the temple was completed, they didn’t wait till the temple was completed

·         They were all from diverse backgrounds but they came together as one person

·         There was a simple, clear vision… rebuild the temple, rebuild the wall

·         They had boldness, they knew what they were called to do and went for it

 We then did an exercise on identifying where our ministries fit into our overall plan and focus in the church.  It was through this process that we identified a clear pathway of growth for our church and it really was an ‘a ha’ moment for the whole team.

·         The way of love  

As we as pastors spent the afternoon together, it was John who sensed that we needed to begin with looking at Sunday, this is the hub for all that takes place and something had to change in this time together.  The atmosphere needed to change.

We prayed and we talked about what we have become and what we wanted to be in not in 5 years, not 3 years, but in the next 9 months?  Could there be a big enough shift that it could be noticed?  We became convinced that is was love…well, to be honest I was a late adopter.  It seemed to simple and yet the more we dwelled on it, it became more profound.  We were convinced that as a church we needed to love.  We wanted to envision love in a deeper way that we ever have before where there was real breakthrough and then the words that finally remained on the white board were:

A time and a place where love abounds

We are not shelving the strategic plan, but we have a holy and high calling to love at the center of it all.

We are all here to minister to one another and have the Spirit work through us.

Vision leaks!  As I began to talk with ministry leaders and various people in the church, I discovered that everyone resonated with this new focus.

During one coffee meeting, it was Sue Wigston who shared, “When we are hurt our natural tendency as humans is to wait for love.  We live in a culture with a victim mentality.” 

Then there is Kerry M, who has every reason to wait for love teaching us pastors about an act of pure love!

There is a score, there are lives at stake.  There are hurting people who need our encouragement and there are people who are just bursting with a story to tell and bless others.  We want to hear those stories.  This is just the beginning.

We want to get to the place where people experience love that is far beyond what you experience out there!

Why are we excited about this vision?  Everyone can contribute.  A place where diversity is celebrated.

We just want to draw the lines and we want you to paint the picture with us and see yourself in the picture

If you really want to learn how to love each other, you’ll want to retain the teaching.

It is irresistible!

It is ‘on purpose’

We want to talk about it, share it, trend it for those who tweet #loveabounds and see where the journey takes us.  Sunday mornings are our laboratory!

As  pastors and leaders we talked about painting the picture of what this love might look like on a Sunday morning at Grace!

•          A time where people are looking for others to have over for lunch and if not looking to meet during the week for coffee, for dessert, for pizza, whatever, later in the week.

•          A place where people are putting their arm around each other and praying for each other after the service

•          A place where there are fresh muffins available to encourage conversation

•          A group of  people who are praying for those coming to our Sunday services

•          A community where you are known and where you are missed

•          A place where you can worship freely

•          A place where you can make friends easily

•          A people who look first to listen and understand

•          A place where you are accepted and belong

•          A time to receive comfort and encouragement

We are looking already ahead to Sunday November 25^th as a day that will we experience love in the form of “house churches” as this building gets taken over by ANIB.

We are going to be working with those who can help us measure our love quotient!  We plan to identify check points for us to hold us accountable to this kind of love.

As John spoke at the beginning of the month, God’s will is worth the wait.  It has truly become our food as pastors and nourished our conversations with anticipation of what God can do in this place as we seek His face.  It is the key to us glorifying God, living wisely and fulfillment for us as a body.  He taught us about the importance of a renewed mind and it will really take that for us to move forward in love!  Romans 12:2

A compelling vision    2 Corinthians 5:14,15

¹⁴ For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. ¹⁵ And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.  2 Corinthians 5:14,15

·         compels defined

compel means to be driven or to be controlled.  One way to illustrate this is by being caught in a strong current of water that carries you downstream.  It is a force that moves you into action. 

To be compelled is to be drawn in a powerful way.

It is Christ’s love for us that compels us to love one another.

Could we become a people that help create a new perception, could we start here and let our Sunday mornings together from the time we enter the parking lot to the time we leave become so compelling?  Can we show a genuine love that draws other people in?  As we conform to the image of Christ, could our expression of Christianity be seen as compelling and relevant and Christ and his Church seen as the hope of the world, a people who live in the way of Jesus and address the brokenness of this world with the power and love of the Kingdom?

Think about Jesus’ first miracle, the changing of water in 20-30 gallon ceremonial jugs into wine. It was a compelling act of extravagant love!

This is the way the early church operated, they lived it out and they gained favor with all the people (Acts 2:46). The witness of this love in their community was held in high regard in their culture for the pattern of their lives and for the great things God was doing in and through them to bring hope and healing to people’s lives.

The hymn writer George Matheson knew of this kind of constraining love when he penned the words "O love that wilt not let me go, I rest my weary soul in Thee; / I give Thee back the life I owe, That in Thine ocean depths its flow may richer, fuller be."

It is also understood in the basic sense to hold something together so that it does not fall apart.

Love is our only agenda item and it will lead us…

·         from selfishness to selflessness

 It is a sacrificial, self-giving love.

When we look at the love of Jesus, he redefines love for us – “actively securing the good of another at cost to yourself without requiring merit or demanding payment.”   JR Vassar

Jesus laid down his life for us and calls us to a self sacrificial love for others.

Sunday BEST!

A complete new Sunday wardrobe!  Colossians 3:12-14

I remember growing up in a church culture where we dressed up in our “Sunday best” for church.  The rationale?  Well, how would you dress if the queen of England showed up.  So, this is how I dressed for church 20 years ago….we have come along way!

·         clothe yourselves with

compassion – love’s acts of mercy that sees those who others pass by.  It is a direct affront to the bystander affect which ignores the needs of others.

kindness  - love’s tangible expressions that bring joy

humility -  love’s attitude, it is done with a higher view of another.

gentleness – love’s power under control

patience – love’s ability to wait

forgiveness  - love’s covering.  A love that covers a multitude of sins.  We treat people as if the offence did not happen in the first place.

·         your new outerwear        LOVE!  All of these acts must be done in love or they have no lasting weight or meaning in the life of another.  Love is our highest motivation.  It is what compels us to action.  It truly holds all the other virtues together.

I have been reading, ‘Tuesdays with Morrie’ and on the 9^th Tuesday, Morrie tells Mitch, “I believe in being fully present.”  “That means you should be with the person you’re with.  When I’m talking to you now; Mitch, I try to keep focused only on what is going on between us. 

Love listens to the heart of another soul without trying to figure out what to tell them.  My heart’s desire is that this love would really listen both to the person and to the Holy Spirit who gives those promptings, a clear word of encouragement, maybe just the faith to carry on.

We need to have a love in this place that has eyes to see the people that God wants us to see to the exclusion of all else.  So, please don’t feel snubbed when I learn to love a person and not feel compelled to acknowledge anyone else around me.

The Take IN

Write a love note of encouragement to someone right now that God is laying on your heart.  Don’t delay!

We are believing God to change the atmosphere here at Grace and also to trust the Spirit to lead us and give us words of affirmation and love for one another.

Pray with me that we would push on the limitations that keep us in the status quo.  Create a lifestyle of prayer and fasting for this.  Take time to even use your hands as a cup and hold them to God in an act of faith asking him to fill you with His love overflowing!

The Table of Thanksgiving!

I am an incredibly blessed dad to have two amazing daughters who love each other as you can clearly see!  

At Grace, we take time each month to reflect on our Lord’s death through the  “breaking of bread” which is familiar to those from a Brethren background.  In some other traditions, this time together is referred to as “communion” or the “Lord’s Table”  and if you are from a more liturgical background, this table is called “Eucharist”   and that referring to the very presence of the LORD

Everyday we are called to follow Christ to the table of “eucharisteo” meaning to show gratitude, to feel grateful and give thanks.

Pride slays thanksgiving.  A proud man is seldom a thankful man for he never thinks he gets as much as he deserves.  Henry Ward Beecher.

Psalm 136:3-7

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!

His faithful love endures forever.

2 Give thanks to the God of gods.

His faithful love endures forever.

3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords.

His faithful love endures forever.

4 Give thanks to him who alone does mighty miracles.

His faithful love endures forever.

5 Give thanks to him who made the heavens so skillfully.

His faithful love endures forever.

Giving thanks is at the very core of Christianity.  “The  foremost quality of a trusting disciple is gratefulness” Brennan Manning

It is in giving thanks that we are led to completely trust and believe.   All gratitude and remembrance in everyday life and moments that God gives us is an accepting of His will, His goodness and His faithfulness.  It is in the remembering of His death that we are brought low and He is raised on high!

Philippians 2: 8  he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.

Dying to self demands that I might gratefully receive what is better.  To follow Christ to the table of thanksgiving is to come to to the table of surrender.  It is here that I learn that I am not self-made, it is here that I learn humility, it is here that I stop trying to earn my own way and receive forgiveness.

No words can describe the depth of this necessity to surrender our created wills to the divine will of the Creator. Where, where can we obtain the courage we need to make this self-surrender? Where, except from the God who died on the Cross for our salvation  John Hardon

I think of the end of His earthly life.  Jesus Himself bends the knee in a garden and weeps His own song: “Father, if you are willing; take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”  Luke 22:42  He opens wide His mouth and accepts: He will drink this cup of suffering too.  Why?  For the greater joy.  Joy now, joy forever.  Conceived in grateful humility.    Ann Voskamp in “One Thousand Gifts”

I want to challenge you with journaling 10 to the LORD that you can feel gratitude for today!

Dimensions of Waiting on The LORD!

As we continue to focus on "waiting on the LORD," the ‘trigger’ for us as pastors was the question, ‘What is God’s leading for us as a church?’  Is there something more for us?  We are convinced that He has something for us.  We are pursuing the LORD with greater focus and desire.  So, that has led us to meeting weekly as pastors for prayer walks and extended times of prayer together as well as our Leadership Board also committing to an early morning 6:15am prayer gathering as well.

What does waiting on the LORD mean?

The word wait is also translated ‘hope’.  It is not a ‘hope so,’ but a confident, believing hope.  It is listening, It is seeking direction, It is an exchange,..

The most famous passage that is used on speaking about this is Isaiah 40:21-31 where Isaiah is

Brought In For Questioning and he enters the Throne Room 

It was where God called him  To Lift Up His Eyes

No one compares to our LORD

The Great Exchange….the great REST

From a place of lack to a place of power

From a place of weariness, tiredness to a place of new strength and new flight!

Do you not know? Have you not heard?  The Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable. He gives strength to the weary, and to him who lacks might He increases power. Though youths grow weary and tired, And vigorous young men stumble badly, Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary.  Isaiah 40:28-31

That is where we began last week from sunrise to sunset and  here is just a sampling of what we heard when we were wrapping up that evening

·         Sensing a call of learning to sacrifice and what it means to run to people who are suffering

·         The challenge for mature believers is to not fall into the same old, same old as we mature in the faith, a real need to long for the deeper things of God, fresh insight, how transforming is the holiness of God and the call to plumb the depths of God.

·         More than ever, the realization that God wants our hearts.

·         From the prayer walk downtown – there is a real battle going on down there for the hearts and lives of people

·         One person shared that they need to learn to slow down and soak in the beauty of the LORD

·         Sensing the importance that we must be ‘thick’ in the Spirit that people would see Jesus in us.

·         Trusting God for Grace to be a place of healing from sickness, brokenness, pain and hurt.

·         From the sunrise prayer, sensing the birth of a new day at Grace

This morning I want to focus on inward disciplines and where they lead us in a time of questioning, a time of seeking and when searching for direction.  These disciplines are not only beneficial for a church, they are beneficial for a nation and they are beneficial for you in your own journey of faith.

We will look at confession and obedience, meditation and study, fasting and seeking direction as well as listening and prayer.

Confession and Obedience

Deuteronomy 28:v1,12  In context, God is setting out a clear imperative to His people that there is incredible blessing if they walk in obedience to His commands.  In v12, we read that God will open up the heavens.  There is a place of greater blessing for the people of God when they obey their Father and conversely disobedience will make life extremely hard for them.

2 Chronicles 7:14,15  At the dedication of the temple (signified the presence of God among them)

14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 15 Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. 16 I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.

Malachi 3:10 – speaking of the financial (natural) blessing of the LORD when we do not withhold our tithe. 

10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.

You see this truth of greater blessing and open heaven in Jesus’ life in John 1:51 and with John himself in Revelation 4:1

1 John 1:9

Ephesian 6:1

These disciplines lead us to a greater blessing and purpose.

God honors and blesses a heart that is fully His…wholeheated devotion.

It was while being in these exact passages that God led Faytene Kryskow, to a greater discovery in her own life.  Faytene is a great advocate for prayer in our nation and also with ministry to our nation’s leaders.  She wrote about a time where God spoke to her about the sin and compromise in her life and yet she knew God was already using her in many ways.  However, God clearly revealed to her that she wouldn’t fully move into the destiny that He wanted for her. 

She writes, “some people are motivated away from pain while others are motivated toward reward,  because as soon as the Lord showed me clearly what the ‘sin’ in my life was costing – my destiny- it was finished.  “God, if You need to slow me down in order to build a foundation for me to stand on in later years, do it!”

Meditation and Study

Joshua 1:8,9

Romans 12:2

2 Timothy 1:7  not given you a spirit of fear…power, love and self discipline

The first part of meditation and study is the art of repetition because we are so prone to forget His truth in the middle of the battle – repeat, go over again and again and commit it to memory

Memorization

Concentration – it is the ability to be in that place of focus, free from distractions and outside influences.

Comprehension – it is the knowledge of the truth that sets us free John 8:32.  We have all had the experience of reading something over and over and then all of a sudden we get it.  We have that aha moment.  To meditate on truth means we allow time to let it sink in.  Often that means writing it out and journaling the insights that God gives you.

SPECS …sin to be forsaken, promise to be claimed, example to follow, command to obey, stumbling block to avoid.

Highlight – use pencil crayons…red for Jesus, orange for commands, blue –prophecy, green for growth, yellow for inspiration

Journal

Sharon and I have wrote truths from His Word, wrote them down on sheets, stuck them in the night table to remind ourselves

Reflection – do we realize the significance of what we are reading?

Meditation can often involve spiritual exercises which allow us to really dwell on truth.  I’ll never forget using clay… His fingerprints all over me.

These disciplines lead us to greater COURAGE. 

We take courage because we rest in His promises for us

Fasting and Direction

Nehemiah 1:3,4

Luke 5:34,35

Acts 13:2,3

Fasting is a concept that is foreign to a lot of Christians, it is seen as unnecessary and a form of legalism, that which God is not pleased with. Fasting brings spiritual awareness and if we are serious about seeking God’s leading in our lives, in our ministry, in our every move, we would fast more.

Matthew 6:17,18 – don’t make it obvious to everyone

Isaiah 58:5-7 – attitude of fasting

The Purpose of Fasting

•          To chasten the soul.  Psalm 69:10

•          To humble the soul   Psalm 35:13

•          To seek the Lord       2 Chronicles 20:3,4

•          For spiritual warfare  Matthew 17:21

One obvious value of fasting lies in the fact that its discipline helps us keep the body in its place.  It is a practical acknowledgment of the supremacy of the spiritual.  But in addition to this, fasting has direct benefits in relation to prayer as well.  Many who practice from right motives and in order to give themselves more unreservedly to prayer testify that the mind becomes unusually clear and vigorous.  There are a noticeable spiritual quickening and increased power of concentration on the things of the Spirit.  J. Oswald Sanders

These disciplines lead us to greater CLARITY 

It has been in times of fasting that I can truly say that God has given me a more clear sense of His leading in my life.  I will fast especially prior to any major decisions that I have to make.  I have also fasted

I have done different fasts.  The most obvious fast is not eating, but there was a time for LENT  (the 40 days leading to Easter)  where I made the decision to not watch hockey and that included part of the playoffs.  Why?  For me in my life I had felt that it had become too much of a consuming focus.

Prayer and Listening 

Hebrews 12:2

John 10:4,16

John 15:7

These disciplines lead us to greater COMMUNICATION

Be still

Fix your eyes

Ask the question…God what is it that you want me to know today

Journal –the impressions that God is placing on your heart.

Richard Foster writes in his book on prayer about a time when he was down on the Oregon Coast and he came to a cliff overlooking the beach.  It was there that he was admiring the forest of hemlock, spruce and cedar.  He was admiring one giant cedar and then 3 steps to the right, he saw another extremely large but obviously rotting out cedar.  There were some sprouts of green but it was only a matter of time before the tree died because it center was exposed. 

As he was observing the rotting tree, he sensed the word of the Lord saying, “This is my Church’ and as he heard it, tears came to his eyes…the church was decaying.  Then for some unknown reason, he turned and looked back at Haystack Rock in the distance.  The tide had come in and it was completely surrounded by water, the waves breaking against it.  The message from God was, ‘but this is what my Church is going to be!’

Waiting on the LORD is asking God to change the atmosphere and praying into that!  The reality is that there is a shift when a group of people are filled with the power and the presence of God.  It leads other towards God thoughts and God type decisions

As we began with confession and obedience, the picture of God’s blessing was RAIN.  They were an agrarian culture and the livelihood of the nation was dependent on the right weather.  The Hebrew word for rain is matar which means ‘heavy rain’ as well.   We are talking about a BIG ‘outpouring’ of the awareness and presence of the LORD!

It is the very presence of God that leads people to the knowledge of God.  We are asking God to fling wide OPEN the revelation and saving knowledge of Jesus Christ in this place and that can’t be done by human effort!  May we continue to wait on the LORD and let it rain!

Mark 11:22-25

“Have faith in God,” Jesus answered.23 “I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him.24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

Hurry Up and Wait!

Why NOW? 

Why a day of prayer for Grace?

In the Hebrew Calendar, the new year begins with the feast of trumpets which actually takes place on  September 17^th which leads into the day of atonement 9 days later.

Rejoicing in The Torah -   October 9^th

The Feast of Dedication - Hanukkah  - December 9^th

The #9 interestingly has biblical significance especially this year!

·         9 fruit of the Spirit

·         9 gifts of the Spirit in 1 Corinthians 12

·         There are 9 words used for judgement from the root word of righteous judgement. 

A day of prayer is a calling to a place of scrutiny before our God. 

1 Peter 4:17  judgement begins with the family of God

Psalm 39:6   We are merely moving shadows, and all our busy rushing ends in nothing. We heap up wealth for someone else to spend.

Can our time-crammed lives handle one more thing?  What were you thinking Jack to call people to pray at the beginning of September!

Time is one thing that we cannot buy and yet we hear the sayings, “time is money, but as one author rightly put it, “time is life”  My heart’s desire for us is to literally ‘seize the day’ and make the most of every opportunity as we are told in Ephesians 5:15,16.  The busyness of life can leave us wanting more and I want to call us back to the source of life, the invitation from the Giver of life to

·         Settle into His purposes for you, your family, for Grace.

This week has been a blur for many of us as we raced against the clock for the books, the binders and the scientific calculators and the back to school pics!  So, who has time for God in a world addicted to speed?

I remember towards the end of one summer my brother sharing with me, “just think Jack, in a few more days, this will just be memories…”

The answer is not more time, but enough time…enough time to breathe deep, to sing for joy, to rest and reflect without feeling guilty, without feeling so hard pressed by everything that stares you in the face from yesterday’s demands.

God is I AM, He is eternally present and He is in the moment and He is calling us to worship HIM, calling us to give thanks, to break bread and create memories of a thankful heart.

Mark Buchanan shares in the rest of God

 Being in a hurry.  Getting to the next thing without fully entering the thing in front of me.  I cannot think of a single advantage I’ve ever gained from being in a hurry.  But a thousand broken and missed things, ten of thousands, lie in the wake of all the rushing… Through all the haste I thought I was making up time.  It turns out I was throwing it away.

I have said it before and I will say it again, ‘we don’t work in order to rest’  We are called to work from a place of rest.  The first thing Adam had to do after being created was rest!

I want to call out of you what God has created you to be.    Our longing for Grace is to minister from a place of deep seated rest. 

 We rest in the confidence of God, we rest in the Word of God, we rest in the promises of God and that is the place from where we must begin.  Our service for Christ must be an outflow of our relationship with Him!

A prayer of rest by Richard Foster

Blessed Savior, I am not good at resting in the hollow of your hand.  Nothing in my experience has taught me this resting.  I have been taught how to take charge.  I have been taught how to be in control.  But how to rest?  No, I have no models, no paradigms for resting.
    That is not exactly right.  Jesus, when you walked among the Jerusalem crowds and in the Judean hills, you pioneered this way of living.  You were always alert and alive.  You lived utterly responsive to the will of the Father.  Manifold demands were placed upon you, and still you worked in unhurried peace and power.  
    Help me to walk in your steps.  Teach me to see only what you see, to say only what you say, to do only what you do.  Help me, Lord, to work resting and to pray resting.
    I ask this in your good and strong name. Amen.

Why High Power Soccer Camp for 15 years?!

Highlights of High Power Soccer Camp 12@Grace

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Boziz4EC5WQ

Matthew 18:1-5

About that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?”2 Jesus called a little child to him and put the child among them. 3 Then he said, “I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. 4 So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.5 “And anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf is welcoming me.

Sharon and I were sitting down this weekend realizing that we have been involved in leading and participating in High Power Soccer Camp for 15 years between B.C. and Ontario and loving the joy and laughter that it brings and then there is Soccer Sunday, an opportunity for parents to see what we’ve been up to all week as well.  One of the things that has absolutely grown on us and the kids is “spontaneous melodramas” where we get the children and coaches to act out the stories of the Bible.  If you have heard these stories before as children growing up, it might have been on flannel graph! However, this is live and unexpected action.  We want people to hear these stories again with the awe and wonder of a child!  These are not fairy tales, these stories were actual events of ordinary people who had extraordinary faith in God to believe that Jesus can forgive sins, that He can rescue, that He wants us to know the Father’s love. It is my prayer that a Soccer Sunday will override our complacency and the attitude of "been there, done that," even though we may have. It is a part of us that we should never lose. It enables us to maintain our humbleness and enthusiasm.

I want adults to listen with humility as well as to how we can enter the kingdom of heaven.  It was so much fun to see my neighbour Suka and his wife, who are Sikh background, jumping with us and singing songs about Jesus as they checked out our camp this week.  It was also great to have 13 children sponsored from a neighbourhood group in the city who camp and the openness of Muslim parents to allow their children to participate in a Christian camp.  As I talked with parents it reminded me of the power of invitation.  The kids absolutely loved the camp and didn’t want it to end.  When I asked if they would come back next year, I got a resounding yes!  As I spoke with parents, two families said they would attend Soccer Sunday, but in the end did not come.  It was disappointing; however, the encouraging news is that seeds were planted and God is working in hearts.

Childlike faith is also entering into the place of confident and believing faith.  It is the belief that when we call out to him he hears us and He also speaks to us though creation, through His Word and through His still small voice that speaks to our hearts.

It was just over a month ago that we were only at 16 campers and it was my son Rylan who woke up one morning and told me that God told him we were going to have 60 campers.  So, when we had 78 campers, I asked him what was that all about….he told me God can always do more!!  Gotta love it!

Martin Luther said the faith that results in being declared righteous before a holy God is like the hand of the beggar reaching out to receive a gift. Before God, we're all beggars. The Lord Jesus offers us the gift of eternal life. We must receive his offer by the faith of an empty hand that offers nothing in exchange.

Jesus turned everything upside down. Those who appeared to be the least likely candidates entered God's kingdom before those who thought they would be first in line.

How do you explain tax collectors understanding the truth before religious leaders.

"I think Jesus meant we have to come to him like a child," says Amanda, 11. "We don't have to say special words. We need to be like a child and not talk fancy.

I read this and really liked it…

Fancy words, religious rituals and clerical garb may impress people, but they don't influence God. He sees the heart. God knows we can deceive ourselves into believing we're good enough to make the grade for heaven by our good works. Jesus is trying to send us a wake-up call when he said simple, childlike faith is needed to enter his kingdom.

Jesus came to Earth to tell us about a loving Father and a kingdom in which righteousness and justice prevail.  He came to offer us a permanent solution for sin through His death on the cross.  He secured our forgiveness and as a child in humility we are called to accept it, believe it and receive it for ourselves.

God give me faith to see through the eyes of a child that nothing is too hard for you.