We Will Know When the Spirit Says Go!

If you feel God is prompting something in you, when you feel the spirit is moving in some way, when you feel something needs to change - one of the first things we ask is, "Is that really you God? Are you saying something?"

I believe a time is coming of renewal and refreshing of the church - the body of Christ. In many ways we have closed our eyes and our hearts to the real power and transforming love of Jesus that the first Christians knew. That needs to change. People need to know Jesus as they did, to have lives transformed, not simply a religious routine to rely on.

But how to you go about making such a change?

The answer is, you don't.

That isn't to say you decide it's too a big a job, would cause too much disruption and discomfort so do nothing.

It means, it's not up to you to cause the changes. In fact, purely human effort will produce only minor changes with just as many flaws as before, just perhaps under a different name and with different permutations.

We credit Paul with starting many churches in his time. But Paul did not create the church. God did. God sent his Spirit to us, which caused an irresistible drawing of people to Jesus.

What did those early Christians do until then? They waited.

And when the Spirit came, He didnt come as a whisper. They didn't turn to each other and say, "Did you hear that? Did God say something? What are we meant to do now?"

No! Into that room in Jerusalem came a mighty wind, and tongues of flame. It was a pretty obvious sign that the Spirit was there! No question!

And they began to speak in other languages, and it was so loud that others heard the commotion and were drawn to find out what was happening.

And numbers were added to the believers daily. It was an irresistible force. People witness the transformation, the love pouring out of them, and were drawn to Jesus.

There was no questioning, hesitation or doubt as to whether the Spirit was with them or what he was doing.

We can be assured of the same - when God revives his people, we will know when the Spirit says go! We won't be able to help it!

Until then, we wait. But remember, waiting on God is not just passive or idle. Much transformation and preparation happens during times of waiting. Seek after His heart and he will lead.

Learning from Hindsight

We all want to know what our purpose is. God, what is your plan for my life? When are you going to reveal it to me?

Sometimes there is a period of waiting before God shows us something. Sometimes God will reveal something specific he wants us to do. But something that hindsight has taught me, is at most often while we are waiting to discover the plan and purpose for our lives, it's already unfolding.

We expect or hope for a sudden flash of revelation. It could happen; Saul/Paul would attest to that. But looking back over my life I see the gradual gentle unfolding of God's plans and purposes. I didn't recognise it while I was in it, but in hindsight I can see such carefully crafted plans and moments and opportunities. I was walking in God's plans already and I didn't even notice.

We should learn from hindsight, and let it give us faith for this moment. No matter how many times I look back and realise, 'So that's what God was doing! Now it all make perfect sense!' I still tend to look back at the present and say, 'Ok, God, what now? Why aren't you doing anything now? I'm getting impatient!'

How quickly we forget.

We keep waiting for that flash if revelation about what our purpose is in life, and then off we'll go. But what difference would it make to you now if you could see that natural unfolding that is already happening? You are already in God's purpose.

You might only see it in hindsight, but have faith that he is working now. One day you might look back and see that insignificant conversation, that simple moment, those daly decisions all led you to where God wanted you without you even realising.

I used to worry about the decisions I made - 'God, how can I know which is the right decision? What if I make the wrong one and stuff it all up?'

But learning from hindsight I can see that many of the choices that mattered I made without even realising their significance. Especially when I was trusting God and tuned in to his voice.

Of course there will be some decisions that are important, times when we can choose to listen to God or to shut our ears, but they will be made plain to us. I believe that if in our hearts we want to follow God and hear his voice guiding us, even if we don't know how, he will lead us.

Learn from hindsight - look back and recognise the times God had been leading you even when you didn't know it at the time. Have faith that he is doing the same right now, even if you don't see it!

Don't fool yourself; You're not fooling God

You may have everyone else convinced, by your presence at church on Sunday, even by your closed eyes and raised hands.

But God's not fooled.

We know that God looks not at outward appearances, but at our heart, but somehow we still think if we fake it well enough, if we put up a convincing enough facade, that even God will be fooled into believing that we are 'good Christians'.

But God's not fooled.

No matter how Christian your life looks on the outside, if your heart isn't changed, you are missing out.

And that's the point - God is not scouring the earth for 'fakers' reading to take them down. He is searching, like a shepherd for his lost sheep, to bring you home. He knows that you are missing out on the real fulness, peace and joy to be found by knowing Him. You're missing it because you're too busy pretending you already have it.

Christian is not a synonym for perfect. If anything, it's a synonym for broken and in need of saviour.

Don't hide behind a facade of how you think a Christian is supposed to look, or behind a fear of really letting your guard down in case your life has to change.

If you are attending Church on Sunday to make you feel better about keeping your life exactly as it is the rest of the week, let me assure you - you are missing out! And God isn't fooled by it. He knows where your heart is. 

And he wants it - your heart. All of it. Not just the bit labelled 'Sunday morning'.

Your life will change, but it will be far better than anything you can imagine.

I promise you.

Don't coast through your life until you can 'get to heaven' The Kingdom of God is here now!

Don't be afraid of it. Perfect love casts out fear, and God is that perfect love.

Project 3:11 - Unexpected outcomes

Project 3:11 started as a simple experiment to go a year without buying clothes. I planned to take it as a time to think about the way I used my money, and consider how I could help others less fortunate rather than thinking about my own material gain.

But God had more in store.

Not long after starting my no shopping experiment, I became pregnant and most other things took a back seat to the beginning of my family.

I had to buy a few clothes, or I would have literally had to wear nothing once my belly got too big to just stretch my tops over. But I still limited my purchases to a minimum - I think I only bought a total of 5 pieces of clothing in the year period I had set myself.

Because of pregnancy and morning sickness and all that goes with it, I didn't really have a chance to explore the subject like I was going to but over the last year or so, both my husband and I have come to knew understandings and new attitudes about money and possessions.

It just goes to show that when God puts something on your heart, it is Him at work, even when it seems like life gets in the way. His purposes still prevail - we don't have to worry. We just have to be obedient and willing to listen to his voice. Once we let Him in, He does the rest.

My husband has even given up guaranteed job security to put his faith in God to provide, and open the doors He has said he will. We are not completely sure of the path God is leading us on yet, but we are open to wherever he takes us.

The results of listening to God's promptings often takes us to unexpected, but ultimately perfect places.

Sometimes the lessons can seem hard and maybe even painful - letting go of worry about what others think, of the guarantee of a steady income, going against the status quo... it can be scary to take that leap of faith. But it is often only a perception of coming pain that frightens us; in the reality after we do leap, we find no matter where it takes us God has already gone before and prepared a way.

We can walk boldly in to anything that God has set before us knowing we go with his protection and power.

So the unexpected results of Project 3:11 went far beyond just curbing a shopping habit, and reached into the very fabric of our family values and the direction of our lives. Totally God, and not down to me. I was too busy watching my belly grow to even notice it was happening.

It's only now that I look back over the last year, and over the years before that, and see the path that God has been gently coaxing us along the whole time.

And because God did it, it was almost easy. The times it was hard were usually because I took my eyes of Jesus and started worry, like Peter stepping out of the boat and then looking away to the wind and the waves.

Money has become much less of a focus, a career for the sake of getting rich is not our goal, and the purposes of God are far more important and fulfilling than any amount of security money can buy.

And we have learned a lot of lessons about complete faith. We have a long way to go to even reach mustard seed size I'm sure, but they have been valuable lessons.

And our journey is not the same as anyone elses - just because we have given up full time work or secure positions does not mean God is asking everyone to do the same. Just because I felt called to considered my shopping and spending habits doesn't meant everyone else needs to also.

But I think there are clear ideas all Christians should be considering in their lives
- We cannot serve both God and money/possessions/materialistic concerns (Matt 6:24)
- We should not be defined by our outward appearance (1 Sam 16:7, 1 Peter 3:3-4)
- We should be looking for the approval of God before the approval of others (Gal 1:10)
- Every good thing is a gift from God - while we may have worked to earn the money, who gave us    the ability and skills and opportunity to work in the first place? (Dueteronomy 8)
- Everything is God's, we are custodians and stewards. We should give freely out of that. (Genesis 1:1, Psalm 24:1, Luke 6:38)
- We are working ultimately for God, not for men. (Col 3:23)
- We should focus on storing up heavenly treasures, not earthly ones. (Matt 6:20)

And in any area of our lives, when we take steps of faith for God we can be sure...

He cares about our needs.
He will provide for us.
He will bless us with an abundance.
He will never leave us nor forsake us.


Look at the birds - they don't toil and reap, and yet our Heavenly Father provides for them. Aren't we so much more valuable than these? How much more will God care for us? (Matt 6:26)





Go Here for the other posts on Project 3:11

To become a better prayer, you have to do more than pray.

While browsing Pinterest I saw a pin that said "To become a better runner, you have to do more than run".

I thought about that. To be a good runner, you obviously do have to run. A lot. But if you want to become a great runner, you have to do more training than that. You have to stretch and keep flexible and protected against injury. You have to do different types of exercises and drills to keep your muscles in shape, your aerobic and anaerobic systems firing, and your overall fitness level high. You even have to eat and drink the right things.

I wondered - is it the same in our spiritual lives?

I think a lot of people want to be better pray-ers. How often have you sat down alone to pray and given up after a few minutes of feeling like you are talking to the air? Or have you avoided praying out loud in a group because you feel inept? Or prayed out loud but worried over every stilted word?

How often have you really seen results from your prayers?

There might be some (or many) of us who will never be great runners, but we are all built with the capacity to be great prayers. It's what we were made for.

Adam and Eve were the first great prayers - but their prayer just looked like walking and talking with God. We were made for that - to walk and talk with God as father and friend. It's meant to be the most natural thing in the world.

Sin separated us. But Jesus was sent to bring God's kingdom to us here, and we have access to that now through the Holy Spirit. We are meant to be great prayers.

So what's stopping us? Why does it sometimes seem like we barely know how to walk, let alone run, when it comes to prayer?

I think we should approach it more like a runner. An athlete competing in the Olympics doesn't just front up to the starting line after just sitting on the couch for a few months before hand. Not if they want to win. And how much more do we have to gain than a temporary prize?

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 1 Corinthians 9:24-25

And we are fighting an uphill battle. That direct connection to God through prayer is going to be the last thing the devil wants you to have - he's going to make it difficult for you. Making prayer life unsatisfying and seemingly pointless in one of the best weapons in his arsenal.

Prayer does more than just let God know about our needs and problems - he already knows all that. Prayer helps us know God. We get close to his thoughts, and get to know his plans.

So how to we 'train' to pray?

It's not just about becoming more eloquent or verbose. That's like a person putting on fancy shoes and a fashionable outfit and expecting it to win them the race.

We do all the things that God has given us to exercise our spiritual muscles. We read the Word. We fellowship with others. We pour out love.

We continue to pray, even when it hurts. Even if it's just a few words of, "God, I don't even know what to say."

The closer we get to God, the more we hear Him, the better prayer will get. It will never be what it was designed to be until we see Jesus again, but it doesn't have to be the stale, painful exercise that many feel it is right now.

Prayer is powerful. Prayer goes deep. Prayer brings us right to the feet of God.

Exercise your muscles and have faith that God wants you to hear him.

Spiritual rain vs spiritual sprinkler

There's something about rain for plant growth. It's different to just watering with a hose or a sprinkler. The grass we are growing from seed just seemed to spring up suddenly after a couple of days of good rain, compared to when were just watering it ourselves.

Spiritually, that's what a lot of us are doing now - just watering our spiritual lives from the reserves we have - reserves God has given us through our faith, the Bible & prayer - but it's not as effective as what is to come. It's a place holder - keeping us alive and ready to spring to life when the soaking rain of God falls.

If you missed it...

If you like being weeks or months (or maybe even years) behind the rest of the digital world like I am, then this summary of things I've come across recently is perfect for you.

• The most annoying question...it was asked a year ago by Sammy Adebiyi on 'How Much Does God Weigh?', but maybe it needs to be asked again.

• Similar theme, and more questions to ask yourself from Kim Walker (of Jesus Culture).

A few things that were on my blog:

• 'Your Best Life'? One of my pet-hate-phrases.
• Inner Beauty vs Outer Beauty...does it mean one or the other? A project 3:11 update and pondering.
• The Difference - starting your day with God and the difference it makes.
• Giving and being generous with more than just your money.
• Hey, God, are you forgetting something?

And pretty sure you can't have missed this... Invisible Children and Kony 2012. But if you are wanting to know more, Rachel Held Evans has put together a great list of resources.

There is a lot of opinion flying around about this. In a nutshell, my opinion is that some awareness and action is better than a lot of ignorance and apathy, even if flawed. Awareness and compassion counts for a lot.

What's yours?

Love with action

I remember watching a man on TV speak about the organisation he founded, a non-profit organisation, caring for thousands of orphaned children around the world. I don't remember the name of the man or the name of the organisation, but what he said stuck with me.

He spoke about a child who died in one of the homes they supported. The organisation provided extra money to the orphanage to cover the funeral expenses and more. And yet four days later the child lay, dead, on a table. No one buried him.

It wasn't their responsibility, they said.

Sometimes it's not a lack of money that's the problem. It's the attitudes. No one buried the child because a dead child wasn't important to them.

The way to change the world doesn't lie simply in the redistribution of wealth. It starts with us; it starts with our hearts.

That's why it's so heart breaking when people have the attitude that one person can't make a difference, so why bother trying. Because it's not the money they don't donate that's the problem, it's that pervasive apathy.

Change the attitudes, and the money follows. Change our viewpoint, and the redistribution of wealth and resources will naturally follow.

What's your viewpoint? What's your attitude? It starts at home - how you treat the people around you, how you view the sick, the weak, the struggling, the lost. If you live all year thinking only of your own happiness and comfort and then send off a cheque to some far away place and think you've done your 'bit' - think again.

If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. 1 John 3:17-18


Make Lent about more than giving up chocolate. Make Easter about more than eating chocolate. Make your life about more than your own happiness.


Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. Philippians 2:1-4


If the love of God means anything to you, what are you going to do about it?

'Your best life'

"Your best life". I hate that phrase. I've seen it as the tag line for churches, and I hate it. Because everyone is looking at that tag line, and I just know the life they are thinking of. They are thinking of this earthly, temporary one. They are thinking 'how do I get my best life, right now?'

Is that really your best life? Is this best part of your existence?

As Christians, why aren't we looking past the physical to see what our 'best life' should really look like?

I've been wrestling with decisions lately that have made me really contemplate what living my 'best life' looks like - and I'm finding that sometimes the best life according to Jesus is going to look like craziness to other people. How do you explain to a world fixated on having and earning and gaining, that I'm taking time - unpaid, financially unprofitable time - to study the Word of God, to sit at the feet of Jesus, to live in faith that what I'm sowing into right now, though it's not putting money in the bank, it's going to pay off so much more richly? How do you explain that?

Well, you can't really. People are going to think you are wasting your time. They are going to wonder why you seem to be just sitting there when there are things to be done.

I guess it depends on where you are sitting. If you are just sitting down in front of the TV, well, they're probably right. Why are you just sitting there?

But if you are sitting at the feet of Jesus - if you are truly waiting on him and letting him lead you no matter where it takes you - then you have 'chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from [you].' Luke 10:42

Other things to look at:


http://sammyadebiyi.com/blogs/sammy-adebiyi/butt-chins-forehead-feet-and-jesus

Inner beauty vs Outer beauty. Is it one or the other?

I like clothes. I like make up. I like doing my nails.


In doing this experiment of Project 3:11, this shopping fast, this is one aspect I keep thinking about. I like all that stuff - is that wrong? 


Consider 1 Peter 3 -


'Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes.'


I think a lot of people look at that verse and feel like its telling us to not think about those things, about 'adornment'. And so either we feel guilty because we took half an hour to do our hair this morning, or we feel high and mighty and decide other people should feel guilty because of the colour of their lipstick or number of shoes in their closet.


But something to notice about that verse is that Peter is not actually saying 'Don't wear nice clothes' or 'you're a sinful, vain person if you like jewellery.' 


He says your beauty should not come from those things. Don't focus on the outward appearance as the source of your beauty, as the thing you value most highly in being a woman. Your beauty 'should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.'


The emphasis here is more on what values you adhere to. In his time, women braided their hair ornately and this is what he was referring to - are you just doing that to your hair because it's fashion, because you are thinking about how others will view it, because you are wanting to fit in with what the world thinks is beautiful?


It is ok to like clothes, to like dressing nicely. It's ok to like physical beauty. I mean, look at the world. Look at a sunset sky - I think it's safe to say God doesn't hate things looking beautiful!


Even when the Bible uses the word modest in relation to dressing, it is a word that means 'becoming' more than it means 'sack cloth from neck to ankles'. 


It means not showy and flashy. It means not dressing to draw attention to yourself about how well off you are or how much money you have. It's about not dressing or living in a certain way just because everyone else does, or it will make you look 'in' if you wear this or buy that brand.


That's the problem - it's a slippery slope. It is very easy to find yourself focusing more and more on the outward as a large portion of your value, even if it started out innocently.


And that's why I started this experiment. Not because I think it's wrong to buy clothes, but because I wanted to check my attitude. If shopping was making me focus more on the outward appearance, if it made me worry what others thought of my fashion sense, if it made me - even for short periods - consumed with my worth based on appearance - then it was something it wouldn't hurt to give up for a while!


And what is any fast but a time to refocus on what really matters - God. To remove those things that are getting in the way - like shopping and buying new things to help me feel better - so we can actually deal with the emptiness we all sometimes feel. To actually take a look at my inner-self without the layer of emotional make up.


And I actually have had much more fun with making my own looks from what I do have. I can't care if they are old or out of fashion because I have no other options, but I kind of like it that way.


So don't feel guilty if you like clothes. Not everyone needs a shopping fast. Inner beauty does not mean throwing out all your mirrors. 


But it can't hurt to take a look inside and check that you are actually working on that inner beauty, and not covering it up with all the things the world says makes us beautiful and valuable. 


You may not be so admired by people if your clothes are out of season or you don't have the right brands. You know those people in the fancy shops who you feel like are looking at you like you don't really belong there...well, they probably are thinking that. But while people will often judge our worth by what they see, God values our hearts.


I'll take what God thinks of me over what a girl in a shop thinks of me, any day.

The difference

I missed my devotions the other morning.

I had started doing them every morning - just a short one, 10 minutes sometimes. But I was starting every day with one. And then one morning people were in our house, I slept in too late and so I went into the day without doing it.

What difference would 10 minutes make?

But it did. The day went differently. I didn't realise it until the day was almost over, and I was thinking back, wondering why I felt different today. Agitated and less at peace.

Nothing in particular went wrong - in fact it was a fairly easy day, and probably less went wrong than other days. But I was different. The way I felt about the day was different.

I didn't realise it until I missed that one day, but since I had started doing devotions every morning, a small inner-peace started going everywhere with me.

It's not like I never read my Bible or prayed before, but I'd never done it consistently. And I didn't start my day with it.

It makes a difference.

Just a thought...