Thursday, December 29, 2011

Divine Favour and 2012

Happy New Year everyone! It is a new year and with each new year comes new ideas, new commitments, new challenges and new opportunities. As we gaze off into the future most of us will either view it through the eyes of faith or the eyes of fear. We will either see potential and perhaps the making of a new dream to pursue or we can see it more like a nightmare and fear what could be coming, what could happen to us, to our jobs, our families and our personal lives. Some of us will seek to make resolutions to lose a few pounds or stop some other bad habit. But, unfortunately most of us end up joining the ranks of those who fail within a few short days or weeks of the new year’s start. But here is an interesting question. If someone came along and asked you, “What is the one thing you pray about the most? What would be your answer? Safety, health, prosperity, children, parents, unsaved loved ones, future mate? What is it that you tend to bring to God more than anything else? Recently I was reading a book about prayer called “The Circle Maker”, it is an inspirational writing designed to fan into fame our prayer lives. If you feel your prayer life could use a lift as you approach this new year I highly recommend it to you. Mid way through the book the author Mark Batterson is writing about the promises that are found in the scriptures that God makes to his people. He believes that by conservative estimates there are more than three thousand promises found throughout the pages of the Bible. He rightly believes that however many promises there are, that in Christ all of these promises were fulfilled. It is therefore also true that in Christ and through faith in Christ that we come to posses these promises as our own. His question is: How many of these promises have we prayed with full assurance that God will answer? His suggestion is that we must commit ourselves to reading the bible as a promise book and a prayer book at that same time. He writes on page 95, “While reading is reactive, prayer is proactive. Reading is the way to get through the bible; prayer is the way you get the bible through you. As you read the Holy Spirit will quicken certain promises to your spirit. It’s very difficult to predict what and when and where and how, but over time, the promises of God will become your promises.” It was during one of these reading/prayer times that he stumbled across a passage that would become for him the prayer that he prays more than any other prayer. It is found in the blessing that Moses gave to Joseph as they were about to enter the Promised Land in Deuteronomy 33:13-17. In verse 16 Moses declares the blessing of the “favour of him who dwelt in the burning bush”. This is what Mark prays for often and for pretty much any and every situation he finds himself in; the favour of God. The divine favour of him who dwelt in the burning bush! Could I make a suggestion to you on this first day of the year 2012? I would suggest that you follow the example of our brother in Christ Mark Batterson and begin to read/pray scripture. I would also suggest that praying for God’s favour is something that all of us are meant to do in whatever situation we find ourselves in. May the favour of him who dwelt in the burning bush rest upon us as we enter 2012.

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Inspiration

Monday nights at our home is almost always packed with young people squeezed in around our dinner table feasting on some delicious meal that my wife has somehow put together in the midst of all her other activities. Most of the time our guests are the friends of my daughters, who have come to enjoy Monday Night dinners so much so that even when our girls are not home they still show up. On a few occasions we have invited an extra guest to come and share their story with the group which has proven to be quite an inspiration to these young men and women. This past Monday a new game came across our table which included a stack of cards with a series of personal likes or dislikes and best or worst experience type questions. One of my cards had this written on it, “What is the most inspirational story you have recently heard and tell it.” At first I wanted to simply tell the story of Jesus and move on but as I thought about it I had to admit I have heard so many inspirational stories in my life not to mention all the heroes of the Bible that have inspired me, it was hard for me to choose one. My wife pointed out it had to be something I had recently heard and so I told the story that had a strong influence on my life a couple years ago that is known as the The Heavenly Man. (you can read his story online at http://books.google.co.nz/books?id=QJy7zunxfhIC&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+Heavenly+Man&hl=en&ei=SsXnTv6bAqzSmAWkypSeCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDEQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=The%20Heavenly%20Man&f=false )

Anyway, yesterday I stumbled across another amazing and inspirational story about a woman named Esther Ahn Kim. I will simply copy it from a book I am currently reading called “Forgotten God” by Francis Chan, a book I highly recommend to you. “It was during WW ll and the Japanese occupation of Korea that Esther’s journey of faith really began. She refused to bow down at the shrines set up in every corner of her country and was eventually imprisoned for six years from 1939-1945. Knowing she was destined for prison for refusing to bow down to idols Esther began to prepare herself both physically and spiritually. Each day she would find and eat food that was decaying, knowing that was what she would be served to eat in prison. The discipline she demonstrated is humbling, how many of us would choose to eat rotten food? While preparing for prison she memorized more than 100 chapters of the Bible and many hymns because she knew she would not be allowed to keep her Bible. She spent countless hours seeking God through fasting and prayer. These times of fasting and prayer and scripture reading lead to great clarity and she was able to surrender her fear of being tortured to Christ.” Esther did not just survive her horrific experience in prison she turned it into a thing of glory. Many lives of her fellow prisoners were touched by the love of Christ demonstrated over and over again in acts of selfless love. She brought healing to their hearts and gave them hope. Her faith in Christ brought many murderers, swindlers and outcasts and even hardened prison guards and corrupt government officials into faith in Christ during her time there.

I hope you have found a little inspiration from this tiny bit of Esther Ahn Kim’s story. May God forgive us for our complacent, comfortable, and complaining style of life. May he give us a new passion and strength to demonstrate selfless acts of love over and over again, without fanfare or need for praise to the Glory of God our Heavenly Father.