I previously posted saying why I thought God is not a woman. I was walking up to the shops tonight and realised that Jesus could be a woman. Actually I am convinced Jesus is a woman!
When I was walking up to the shops tonight I saw a 'street person' who I often see walking the streets. He obviously has a mental condition - he walks down the middle of the street, doesn't like to step on cracks, stops and stares etc.
When we did a street ministry called 'Pass the Plate' we used to give a glass of hot water to a street lady called 'Maria'. It's all she wanted and she always seemed grateful.
As I walked tonight the following verse entered my mind: For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in (Matthew 25:35).
Then I realised this man in the street was Jesus. And Maria was Jesus. Thus making Jesus a woman.
Monday, April 03, 2006
following in Jesus' footsteps
One doubting believer says to another:
THE LORD DOES NOT WORK FOR ME. I'm ready to give up. This Christian life sux.
The other believer agrees and says:
You're right the LORD does not work for you. You should give up. Your christian life does suck.
THE LORD DOES NOT WORK FOR ME. I'm ready to give up. This Christian life sux.
The other believer agrees and says:
You're right the LORD does not work for you. You should give up. Your christian life does suck.
The truth is...
YOU WORK FOR THE LORD,
now that you've given up the LORD can use you
INSTEAD of you using the LORD.
That was Jesus' life story...ours is the same.
my birthday!!
it was my birthday last week on the 28th March. im now a walking and talking 28 year old...whooooo hooooooo!!!
this year was quite different, i didnt make a big fuss like i normally do, nor did i remember until my sister reminded me ever so kindly about me getting old etc..etc...
i went home and sat by myself...i mean by my self!!! yes, all those who know me fall over :p
i will always remember this birthday, because i spent every second of it with the Lord, i said to him in the morning "Lord it doesnt matter if anyone remembers my b-day, you remember and know its my birthday, thats all that matters..you created me and welcomed me into this world on this day, 28 years ago and you know everything about me, so its cool"
and i actually meant that..sure enough some of the most important people and perhaps the closest to me forgot my b-day but it didnt matter to me...i was sure of their love for me and so did not even think twice about it...its amazing when you make the Lord your Confidence! Nothing moves you...normally my brother forgetting my b-day would distress me much but I enjoyed celebrating God styles...rest, sit, be still and know that HE IS THE GREAT I AM!!
My frenz wanted to meet up for drinks (which is what we normaly do), but i chose instead to go to uni and go home to sit with the Lord, pray, give him thanks and praise and read his word.
i praised him for the days of my life that he already knows about, i thanked him for I am wonderfully and fearfully made, that he knew me before i was conceived and for designated the 28th of March1978 for my great welcoming into the world. I thanked him for smiling upon my life when i was born as if to say:
" my dear child, theres a big world out there, you will laugh, you will cry, you will hurt and be misunderstood, you will have your heart broken, you will go through heartbreaking loss, you will make frends and you will be betrayed, you will change, you will cry again, you will be discouraged, you will be disrespected, you will be disobedient, you will make wrong choices, you will be taken for granted and will take other for granted as well, you will give up on me but on the 28th March when you were born i celebrated, for I knew what I created and thats YOU...with all your fears, weaknesses and strengths, your doubts and worries, i still created you because on your 28th birthday i knew that you will sit and relfect on a life well lived and you will be reminded that throughout your life, there were changes and different tides, but I remained tha constant, steady hand that guided you back...for I have a plan for you duaghter, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future,then you will search for me with all your heart and you will find me"
I enjoyed every second of the Lords presence and i truly worshipped him for the many days past and yet to come.I look to the future at my life and know that if i cast my cares unto him, submit to his will and keep moving forward with eyes focused on Christ things can only get better...and I am truly encouraged!
My father in heaven knows me by name....what an awesome revelation that was!!!
this year was quite different, i didnt make a big fuss like i normally do, nor did i remember until my sister reminded me ever so kindly about me getting old etc..etc...
i went home and sat by myself...i mean by my self!!! yes, all those who know me fall over :p
i will always remember this birthday, because i spent every second of it with the Lord, i said to him in the morning "Lord it doesnt matter if anyone remembers my b-day, you remember and know its my birthday, thats all that matters..you created me and welcomed me into this world on this day, 28 years ago and you know everything about me, so its cool"
and i actually meant that..sure enough some of the most important people and perhaps the closest to me forgot my b-day but it didnt matter to me...i was sure of their love for me and so did not even think twice about it...its amazing when you make the Lord your Confidence! Nothing moves you...normally my brother forgetting my b-day would distress me much but I enjoyed celebrating God styles...rest, sit, be still and know that HE IS THE GREAT I AM!!
My frenz wanted to meet up for drinks (which is what we normaly do), but i chose instead to go to uni and go home to sit with the Lord, pray, give him thanks and praise and read his word.
i praised him for the days of my life that he already knows about, i thanked him for I am wonderfully and fearfully made, that he knew me before i was conceived and for designated the 28th of March1978 for my great welcoming into the world. I thanked him for smiling upon my life when i was born as if to say:
" my dear child, theres a big world out there, you will laugh, you will cry, you will hurt and be misunderstood, you will have your heart broken, you will go through heartbreaking loss, you will make frends and you will be betrayed, you will change, you will cry again, you will be discouraged, you will be disrespected, you will be disobedient, you will make wrong choices, you will be taken for granted and will take other for granted as well, you will give up on me but on the 28th March when you were born i celebrated, for I knew what I created and thats YOU...with all your fears, weaknesses and strengths, your doubts and worries, i still created you because on your 28th birthday i knew that you will sit and relfect on a life well lived and you will be reminded that throughout your life, there were changes and different tides, but I remained tha constant, steady hand that guided you back...for I have a plan for you duaghter, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future,then you will search for me with all your heart and you will find me"
I enjoyed every second of the Lords presence and i truly worshipped him for the many days past and yet to come.I look to the future at my life and know that if i cast my cares unto him, submit to his will and keep moving forward with eyes focused on Christ things can only get better...and I am truly encouraged!
My father in heaven knows me by name....what an awesome revelation that was!!!
POWER OF PRAYER
One of the main lessons to come out of last year for me was the desperate need for us to pray more - it covers us and helps our faith to grow. More and more the LORD keeps putting it on my heart to pray and pray.
So I have been studying prayer a lot. Reading an excellent prayer book at the moment by John Maxwell. I have always talked to the LORD, even when I was more lost than found, talking to him about the big and small things in my life...listening to him so I can make wise choices.
In everything that is happening around me I'm even more aware of how much I need the LORD. We get so busy with life that it's easy to take our eyes off the LORD and say: OK, if I just sort this out then I can give you time....or if i just get thru this busy month then I can devote time to you...or in my case last year: if I am doing God stuff than it must be ok to be so busy I have no energy to spend on relationships...BUT THESE ARE ALL LIES OF SATAN.
Satan wants us to be busy with ourselves, busy with our 'own lives', and giving the LORD leftovers because then our world is ALL ABOUT US. The LORD is our lives. If we want to live our lives we can't separate it from the LORD and put him back in his box and pull him out when ever we FEEL like it or need him...or on Sundays when we go to church.
I know I can't live without the LORD in my every day life. I know and believe without a doubt that my LORD will never leave me nor forsake me. That when he forgives, my sins are not ONLY wiped away but forgotten. I know the character of my God and it has never changed. He's not trying to hurt me, but to teach me and to help me grow. I can say this without doubt because I have experienced evil, loss, mourning, a broken-heart, and struggle.
The LORD is an all consuming fire. He's not interested in being given a tiny little room waaay in the back of our hearts behind our plans, our calling, our gifts, our religious practices, our relationships, our jobs. HE belongs in EVERY SINGLE ROOM. We, who call ourselves his children, know that unless the LORD builds the house we labour in vain. The LORD is not obliged to bless anything he didn't direct you to build.
We always want the easy solution, the quick fix, but the LORD knows we will learn nothing from getting everything our way. So he makes us wait and sometimes we even have to struggle. Our pastor spoke about what it means to WAIT in the bible. It's not a passive word but a doing word. I wholeheartedly agreed with him.
When the LORD says WAIT on him, to me, it means to WAIT EXPECTANTLY...to be ready to spring into action any second, so as not to be caught napping like the disciples when Jesus prayed before being arrested....but to be on our guard, to stay active and alert, in case like a thief in the night the LORD knocks on our door and we are not ready.
Waiting for me looks like this: do what I know to do, seek the LORD's counsel using all the resources he has given me, abide in him continuing to believe and not give up, making the most of what is in my hand right now. Sometimes all I have in my hand are what Paul talks about in Corinthians - FAITH, HOPE AND LOVE.
When I pray I wait expectantly for the LORD to answer....it can take years...It took the LORD 14 yrs to answer my prayer to save my husband...but in that time he changed me, knocked the foundation out from under myles, and brought our marriage out into the light. Every time there was an alter call, I waited expectantly for Myles to raise his hand. But he never did. Did it stop me believing? No, because I was sure of what I hoped for and certain of what I couldn't see.
I waited expectantly for some good news last week about a young woman at church who had a lump removed from her chest, fearing it was cancer. The LORD answered, she is doing fine and the lump was all clear and she is recovering with little bruising. That's answered prayer.
Last night I waited expectantly for some good news about my Uncle. I still am. My mum came home with a glimmer of hope, his voice was stronger last night, he seemed more positive. Answered prayer. And I wait again for more good news.
I waited expectantly for small things like warm weather for one spot in Sydney where we would be lying on a beach. The LORD answered.
Today, I am waiting to hear good news about being pregnant. It's 5 years since I started this prayer. Over those 5 years my life has changed dramatically. I lost a baby, a fallopian tube, part of my ovary and I lost my Dad. Today I wait expectantly to hear not so much from the nurse, but from my LORD to answer.
What if the answer is NO? Then I try again. If at the end of this year I have exhausted all these options to have a child, then I will adopt. If that doesn't work then I know my LORD's answer. I am meant to be an Aunty and not a Mum.
But until that day comes, I will fight the good fight, I will choose to believe in the goodness of my LORD and I will not go quietly into the night.
So I have been studying prayer a lot. Reading an excellent prayer book at the moment by John Maxwell. I have always talked to the LORD, even when I was more lost than found, talking to him about the big and small things in my life...listening to him so I can make wise choices.
In everything that is happening around me I'm even more aware of how much I need the LORD. We get so busy with life that it's easy to take our eyes off the LORD and say: OK, if I just sort this out then I can give you time....or if i just get thru this busy month then I can devote time to you...or in my case last year: if I am doing God stuff than it must be ok to be so busy I have no energy to spend on relationships...BUT THESE ARE ALL LIES OF SATAN.
Satan wants us to be busy with ourselves, busy with our 'own lives', and giving the LORD leftovers because then our world is ALL ABOUT US. The LORD is our lives. If we want to live our lives we can't separate it from the LORD and put him back in his box and pull him out when ever we FEEL like it or need him...or on Sundays when we go to church.
I know I can't live without the LORD in my every day life. I know and believe without a doubt that my LORD will never leave me nor forsake me. That when he forgives, my sins are not ONLY wiped away but forgotten. I know the character of my God and it has never changed. He's not trying to hurt me, but to teach me and to help me grow. I can say this without doubt because I have experienced evil, loss, mourning, a broken-heart, and struggle.
The LORD is an all consuming fire. He's not interested in being given a tiny little room waaay in the back of our hearts behind our plans, our calling, our gifts, our religious practices, our relationships, our jobs. HE belongs in EVERY SINGLE ROOM. We, who call ourselves his children, know that unless the LORD builds the house we labour in vain. The LORD is not obliged to bless anything he didn't direct you to build.
We always want the easy solution, the quick fix, but the LORD knows we will learn nothing from getting everything our way. So he makes us wait and sometimes we even have to struggle. Our pastor spoke about what it means to WAIT in the bible. It's not a passive word but a doing word. I wholeheartedly agreed with him.
When the LORD says WAIT on him, to me, it means to WAIT EXPECTANTLY...to be ready to spring into action any second, so as not to be caught napping like the disciples when Jesus prayed before being arrested....but to be on our guard, to stay active and alert, in case like a thief in the night the LORD knocks on our door and we are not ready.
Waiting for me looks like this: do what I know to do, seek the LORD's counsel using all the resources he has given me, abide in him continuing to believe and not give up, making the most of what is in my hand right now. Sometimes all I have in my hand are what Paul talks about in Corinthians - FAITH, HOPE AND LOVE.
When I pray I wait expectantly for the LORD to answer....it can take years...It took the LORD 14 yrs to answer my prayer to save my husband...but in that time he changed me, knocked the foundation out from under myles, and brought our marriage out into the light. Every time there was an alter call, I waited expectantly for Myles to raise his hand. But he never did. Did it stop me believing? No, because I was sure of what I hoped for and certain of what I couldn't see.
I waited expectantly for some good news last week about a young woman at church who had a lump removed from her chest, fearing it was cancer. The LORD answered, she is doing fine and the lump was all clear and she is recovering with little bruising. That's answered prayer.
Last night I waited expectantly for some good news about my Uncle. I still am. My mum came home with a glimmer of hope, his voice was stronger last night, he seemed more positive. Answered prayer. And I wait again for more good news.
I waited expectantly for small things like warm weather for one spot in Sydney where we would be lying on a beach. The LORD answered.
Today, I am waiting to hear good news about being pregnant. It's 5 years since I started this prayer. Over those 5 years my life has changed dramatically. I lost a baby, a fallopian tube, part of my ovary and I lost my Dad. Today I wait expectantly to hear not so much from the nurse, but from my LORD to answer.
What if the answer is NO? Then I try again. If at the end of this year I have exhausted all these options to have a child, then I will adopt. If that doesn't work then I know my LORD's answer. I am meant to be an Aunty and not a Mum.
But until that day comes, I will fight the good fight, I will choose to believe in the goodness of my LORD and I will not go quietly into the night.
life update
Feel like I've been on an emotional roll coaster this past week. My uncle took a turn for the worse on Friday, his kidneys are not coping, so last nite he was put on dialysis(?). Doctors are worried he could go into cardiac arrest because his heart might not cope.
My mum has been stressed over it and stressing me out. We had a huge argument about nothing...I hope one day I will grow up enough to not bite back when my mum says something which drives me crazy...i'm 37 and she is still one of the few people who can upset me just like that...one comment...two comments...and I'm loosing the plot. AAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!
times like that I wish I remembered I'm my Father's daughter not my mothers!
I've been in a bit more pain with the last lot of injections for IVF. But it's over for now. Didn't get my period over the weekend (and all the boys go EEEEWWWWW!). So had blood test today to see if i'm preggy. Now I have the long wait for the results...probably later today.
Had a moment with my man Saturday night, but I think it was good. The LORD loves to bring everything into the light!
Today is our fasting day. It's perfect timing because I know who needs the LORD the most right now - my Uncle. Today I'm fasting for him. I'm waiting for some good news.
My mum has been stressed over it and stressing me out. We had a huge argument about nothing...I hope one day I will grow up enough to not bite back when my mum says something which drives me crazy...i'm 37 and she is still one of the few people who can upset me just like that...one comment...two comments...and I'm loosing the plot. AAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!
times like that I wish I remembered I'm my Father's daughter not my mothers!
I've been in a bit more pain with the last lot of injections for IVF. But it's over for now. Didn't get my period over the weekend (and all the boys go EEEEWWWWW!). So had blood test today to see if i'm preggy. Now I have the long wait for the results...probably later today.
Had a moment with my man Saturday night, but I think it was good. The LORD loves to bring everything into the light!
Today is our fasting day. It's perfect timing because I know who needs the LORD the most right now - my Uncle. Today I'm fasting for him. I'm waiting for some good news.
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