So Much Going On!

I am blogging just because I should be putting curtains back up and have got bored with Facebook. How often when things just get too much for us do we hide and procrastinate?
We are going through loads of change and all of it is good! But there is a lot of it and at times, after listening through the prayer podcasts from 24/7 prayer for the last week for Europe I feel a bit of a fraud with what I do and how I spend my time. Yes I am totally passionate about wanting to change the world, to want to see justice come, but I often feel like a rabbit in the headlights.
How many poor people do I know? Do I really want to leave my comfort zone to go find them?
With some much changing in our household I do feel that I am hanging on to precious family time at the moment and then wondering if I should. I am also suffering a bit from exhaustion brought on by stress and transition - continuous transition from childhood I realised the other day. You know I haven't had the same address for more than 7 years in a row, and when I was in a static address generally the world was madly changing around me!
But I do find that much as I would love to be out there finding the poor wherever they are, I also want to spend some precious few times still building memories with Ben and Tabi and integrating them with Ian, and Ian with them, and how do I find the energy for it all, especially as I am becoming more and more introverted?
And then on top of all this God comes along - I am presuming its God because it came about whilst I was praying - and downloads all this stuff for me to do, which actually seems to be more about empowering people and releasing more with our thoughts on "Inspiring Heroes" than to moving to be with the poor.
Maybe this is a time when I need to trust that Dad knows best and just stay close to The One who we all know knows we are awesome and knows the plans He has for us.
So I am having to learn that even though there are thing I feel I ought to do there are plans that He has made for me before the beginning of time and I have to trust Him with me and mine and let Him lead.
But it still seems to mean that there is so much going on!! :-)

Need to Look Within To Stop the Traffik

Thought I would put this comment I have just put on "Amazed and Confused"'s blog in response to the 24/7 prayer podcast to do with the modern pandemic of slavery -

"There are some of us who have been discussing though what is wrong with our nation. Our nation is sick because it wants/needs these prostitutes, these drugs. We need also to let the light of God shine on those who use these young girls for sex, who need to have sex with a stranger. As one friend said as soon as you rescue one of these girls another is put in her place.
Yes we need to be praying and dealing with this slave trade but also we need to be looking inside out own hearts and our own nation to deal with the sickness here.
We need to look at our shopping habits to check what we are buying isn't helping the slave trade.
Why do they need to be organ donors? Is this because we do not allow own relatives organs to be give because we don't see the need?
Again I say yes we need to be involved with Stop the Traffick, with prayer initiatives to stop this, with other organisations who are working to stop this, but also we need to look inside ourselves and inside our nation!"

Ironic

I don't know about you but I found it all rather ironic that the BNP and UKIP won seats in the European elections when their whole thing is to get rid of foreigners and get us out of Europe.
How can they be in something they so blatantly don't agree with? And how could anyone vote for someone into something they don't agree with?
Interesting times we live in!

Needing to Know We Deserve It

If we don't think we deserve it then interestingly many people do not ask. And this can come to God and prayer too. If I believe I am able to ask God for anything and that He takes note of me I will ask for anything. If I think I am unworthy and don't deserve anything then I will not ask.
At an interesting family meal because I have reached a point, not a a cocky way but in a way of living out that I am the child of the maker of the universe, I was able to ask for many things from the restaurant staff with a smile, which made things happen.

Ian has been pondering on the verse in Revelation about how our prayers are gathered in a bowl that God then pours out and really has been feeling that so many people don't believe this and so don't pray with passion and expectation. In fact they don't believe they deserve God to hear their prayers and so don't "go for it", don't join with others to pray, and don't get excited about prayer. do
There is also the thing that often when we pray God does not answer in our timing, doesn't do it as quickly as we would like which again can set off the "I don't deserve it and God doesn't care" mentality.

Once we can get our heads round the fact in humility that we are the chosen children of the King of Kings, that because of that we deserve to speak to Our Dad, the Father of the universe, that He will gather those things up for us, and will "make things happen" but in His timing, then I wonder, I just wonder how much bolder we would be in asking?

Dreams

I know Jayne and Graham may accuse me of "thought theft" but I was getting somewhere with this before they said this!

My thoughts with this started when I was singing the other day at church and the lines "in my wildest dreams, in my darkest hour" stuck with me. And I was thinking that so often when we have really wild dreams and can feel that something is stirring to bring them to fruition that it can be a really dark place.
RT Kendall says something along these lines in "The Anointing" of how those with "tomorrow's anointing" often feel like no one understands them and they do not have the words to articulate what God is saying to them in a way anyone understands. Some of this is because what they have is new and maybe the words are there but the concepts haven't yet come into people's heads yet.
So one's wildest dreams can be one's darkest hour because one does need to have that special faith from God to know that one can make this happen.

Jayne and Graham were taking about a dream they had but of how they didn't want to make it a reality because it may not be as good as the dream
How often do we all get into that place? We know this dream is from God. We spend ages praying. Ages putting together His plan for this dream. But then there is that fear that because we will then have to include other people in this dream because "no man is an island" they might just spoil it all.
This is where we need to have that extra faith that this is of God and He is in total control and He will make it happen.

Lisa in "Let's put the kettle on" talks of how sharing their dreams with a friend actually reawaken them for her and Byron and help to make them come more alive. This is what she says "I suppose it sounds ridiculous but there are times when it's good to be reminded that our dreams are good, exciting and worth going after.
Dave's enthusiasm for the dreams in our hearts and the way we're already realizing parts of them was refreshment on the way.
Friendship kindled and dreams shared, it makes a difference, doesn't it? "

To me this says that even when we are scared of airing those dreams we do need to share them with trusted friends to keep them alive and bring them to fruition. And also this will keep helping us to see if God is in the centre of them.

Conned by Credit cards

A friend sent me this from a Frugal group she is a part of called "Living on a Dime" - She says it isn't a Christian site but wow this is such Godly truth and I think true evangelism. Its saying how we should live as Christians not a list of condemnation and rules

Thanks Steph for forwarding this -

Hello everyone! I was recently interviewed about debt free living and how living without debt relates to my faith. I thought you'd find some of the answers helpful, so we'll be including some of them in the newsletter. Here are the first two.

-Jill


Interviewer: You advocate a debt-free and a primarily cash lifestyle. How is that possible in today's day and age?

I don't normally advocate anything. To advocate something means to get caught up in a cause and I never saw Christ get caught up in any cause. I was put on this earth to have a relationship with God. We have to be careful because sometimes it is easier for us to be involved in a cause for Him then in a relationship with Him. So I shy away from causes.

I do however advocate faith in God. Every time I pull out my credit card to borrow money, I think it is a sign that my is faith faltering because I am showing once more that I am not trusting God. The Bible says we aren't supposed to commit murder -- of course we wouldn't dream of doing that. We aren't supposed to have other gods -- wouldn't dream of it. We aresupposed to trust Him to provide for all our needs ... ahhhh well??? Did you respond as quickly on this one as the other two and say, "Of course I trust Him to provide all of my needs and not a credit card"?

Often, by using a credit card, I am giving myself things that God may not be giving me at the moment because I am not mature enough to handle it, it won't be the best thing for me or because He wants me to learn something or grow stronger by doing without it. Maybe He allowed gas prices to rise to shake some of us up so we would become wiser stewards of our money, knowing that some day when the real hard times come, we will be prepared.

Now that doesn't mean I don't believe in using a credit card or having a house payment. It's just that, like so many other things, we have let them get out of control or we go to extremes in what we use them for. We have got to start using some common sense.

I'll be honest with you. If you're in debt and decide now to get out of it, it won't be easy and, like any other time we have failed to trust God, we may have to live with some consequences. If you are sincere you will be willing to say, "I will pay back what I owe no matter what discomfort I have go through, even if I have to give up everything."

I learned many years ago that God's best plan for me is not to go into debt with a credit card because I'm overspending.

How is it possible to avoid debt in this day and age? Even to hear those words makes me think of Satan standing and whispering in someone's ear "You need to use that credit card. In this day and age, it is the only thing you can do. Don't worry, God (and the people you aren't going to pay back) will understand."

We are so careful about what our children watch on TV or what they learn in school but we ourselves are so often deceived, letting ourselves fall into negative and faithless thinking. Even asking "how is that possible" implies that God can't take care of us. Have we let our fear and faithlessness make us forget that, with God, all things are possible, even in this day and age?

Nothing is really any different in this day and age than in any other. Citing "this day and age" is just another excuse we use to justify all the silly, irresponsible and wrong things we do with our money. There has always been unemployment and, at times, even worse than what we have now. The stock market has always gone up and down. That's why we have always been told to be careful when we invest in it.

As far as housing goes, I remember the real estate market crashing and burning so bad in the 80's. No one could sell a home. I put my house on the market anyway because I never listened to what the news or "they" said. Within one week, I had 3 contracts and I even did it without an agent. Hmmm. Do you think, maybe, that my God was bigger then the real estate market?

Open your eyes and look for yourself. How packed is every restaurant parking lot each day? The next time you stand in line at the store, look at your own shopping cart and those of others around you. Are they buying just the essentials or are their baskets full of fluff? By looking in the carts you can see just how "not bad" things are right now. Beware of when you're being deceived.

Wild Geese versus Domestic Geese

We heard an amazing story at church today about a domestic goose that had got stuck in a cul-de-sac. Do you know domestic geese have forgotten how to fly?
How often do we get into situations, even with church, where we forget how to fly, or even don't want people to fly as it all gets a bit crazy? I was thinking of our situation and how I/we need to fly but that we have to go where the Holy Spirit is sending us even if that doesn't make sense.
I know when I became a Christian I let the wild goose of the holy spirit have total reign in my life and it has got me into trouble. But I also know that at times I have stepped out of that Wild goose anointing and have become a grumpy goose, who's feet have hurt because I've walked not flown and have got myself stuck and have been grumpy to all.
But the thing is that in reality we all do want domestic geese more than wild geese because domestic geese give us eggs to eat and also get nice and plumb and we can eat them, as well as being able to sell them to make money. They are ours and we own them. It was domestic geese that saved Rome. Wild geese would've flown away. Domestic geese are much more useful and we probably would rather be seen as useful by others than flitting about.
Help me Lord to always be able to fly by the wild goose anointing of Your Holy Spirit, but also let me know who I am to fly in formation with. Wild Geese don't get very far if they try to go it alone, they need other wild geese to fly with.