Yielded Hearts &raquo; Love never fails

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KimOctober 14, 2014 - 11:22 am

All the best you two. Have a safe flight and . Look forward to hearing bout the magic you make xx

MayaOctober 1, 2014 - 8:28 pm

Looks like you either arrived super early to the airport or your flight to Sydney was empty! Have a safe trip, can’t wait to hear the stories. Xx

Chasing miracles or chasing God?

Saturday, August 9, 2014

There are so many great books we’ve been reading in preparation for the adventure ahead! I wanted to share this passage in Rolland Baker’s PhD entitled ‘TOWARD A BIBLICAL “STRATEGY” OF MISSION: THE EFFECTS OF THE FIVE CHRISTIAN “CORE VALUES” OF IRIS GLOBAL’. It jumped out at me and made my heart leap for joy. My Spirit was saying “Yes! Yes! Yes!”

Our values teach us that we cannot arouse love until it so desires (S of Songs). Love and relationship are not produced automatically by external, physical miracles. We have noticed time after time that even those raised from the dead and healed of serious disease do not necessarily respond well to the gospel or stay fervent and faithful to the Lord. Only one out of ten lepers healed by Jesus came back to thank Him. This understanding leads us to concentrate in our preaching and teaching not solely on external signs and wonders, but always on relationship. Churches deteriorate, pastors fall away, people lose interest, revival declines and our movement dries up if all we emphasize are prosperity, healings, manifestations and external phenomena. In Iris we have never chased signs and wonders, but only the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. Signs and wonders then chase us. “Doing the stuff” is not the point. Jesus is always the point. (Page 237)

YES! Jesus is always the point! I love that!

It’s never about what He can do for us or through us, it’s always about Him! Relationship with our Father and King is what we were all made for.

It’s good to know that we’ll be in the company of leaders that have a heart after God and prioritise relationship with Him over miracles and circumstances.

God has been speaking to us much about the Kingdom and what it looks like to lay down our lives for the Kingdom’s sake.

When a soldier is in battle, ready to shoot or take the next bullet, the thoughts running through his mind could be – ‘I could get killed’; ‘What about my family and kids?’; ‘How would my wife cope?’. These are all sincere and natural thoughts OR he could be thinking – ‘It’s an honour to serve my country and leader. I’m available and ready to die for the sake of my country and it’s people because I love them’. What a perspective … the same one Jesus had on the cross … the same one we should have.

It’s not about us or our house, it’s not about the welfare and comfort of our family and kids. God didn’t save us so we could have a better day or a life filled with no trouble (in fact He promised us persecution would come). He saved us for perfect fellowship with Him and to be transformed into His likeness! When the world looks at us, they should see the Father, just as Jesus said in John14:9 – ‘He who has seen Me has seen the Father’

This is so humbling and makes me want to run to daddy God even more!

~ D

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Humbled and Excited !!

Thursday, July 10, 2014

There was a call in our hearts to missions, and specifically we had felt God lead us to the Iris Harvest Mission School. So January this year we resolved to prepare, June we applied, and this month (July) we received this email:

Tears ran down our faces as we both stared at the offer. No, we are not that emotional normally – this was just more than being accepted into a school. It was solidifying a sense of call and direction in our lives that ran deep in our hearts. In holy fear, we realise that this to be a significant step in our already exciting journey in God.

The school runs from October – December and a range of extended outreach options are offered at the completion of the school, bringing the experience into the new year.

So, humbled by His love and faithfulness, we are preparing for this chapter in our journey of faith and with His grace we plan on running well 🙂

Philippians 2:12-13

¹²Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; ¹³for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.

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Laying down your life – easier than you think?

Monday, April 21, 2014

In the new testament we often hear that, as Christians, we should ‘die to ourselves’ or ‘die to our flesh’ in one form or another. Below are a few references in case you haven’t noticed:

The call to discipleship – Luke 9:23-24

Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.”

Out of death comes life – John 12:24-25

Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

Called to live by the Spirit – Romans 8-13

For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

Off the with old and on with the new – Ephesians 4:22-24

that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.

Our life hidden in Christ – Colossians 3:3

For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

So why do I think this could be easy? Well, the more I search the scriptures the more I realise that we are being asked to give up something that was never ours, something we were never intended to be, and something that (if we thought about it) we wouldn’t want anyway. Not only that but we are inspired to give this up by a very incredible and personal love. Let’s take a closer look.

Something that was never ours – He is the potter and we are the clay. Should the Creator have rights to His creation? Despite this clear distinction, God has given us a free will because He wants us to choose to love Him. He desires an intimate relationship with us and even though we can choose to hold on to our life, it is not really ours in the first place.

Something we were never intended to be – Adam and Eve in the garden before the fall, is what God created and who He intended us to be. Read Genesis 1:26-27 and look at how much emphasis He puts on creating man in His image, in His likeness. They walked and talked with Him in direct relationship seeking only after Him and not living for themselves. It was a lie that we believed that stole that identity away from us and we became self-seeking and no longer who we were intended to be. The God of restoration has paid the ultimate price and made a way to restore us to this lost identity – the sonship, He always intended us to have. God is now asking us to give up the fallen life, the lie, and no longer live for ourselves.

Something that we wouldn’t want anyway – If you read further in the Colossians scripture (3:1-17) you will see the attributes of the flesh we are to ‘die to’ or ‘put off’ (verses 5-9). Verse 10 reinforces the identity and intended image we are to be renewed to; then verses 11-17 show us the alternative to being a 5-9 person. When put this way I don’t think anyone would fight to remain a Col 3:5-9 person.

Now, particularly if you read the Ephesian and Colossians scriptures, you would know that completely surrendering our lives is not something we are asked to do in our own strength. The scripture makes it clear that walking in this surrender is by a renewing of our mind and hearts. We do this by reading the scriptures and allowing grace through faith change the way we think – we choose to trust in the love, mercy, goodness and sovereignty of Father and begin again to walk in an intimate relationship with Him.

I also mentioned that we are inspired to surrender by an incredible and personal love. This is a big and exciting topic, so today we will just scratch the surface…..

A tree native to Australia is the Eucalypt. Eucalyptus tree seeds are approx. 1mm in length but the life hidden inside the dead exterior is capable of growing to 114,000 times this size in height (a 114 meter (374 foot) high tree). I wonder what your full potential is if you choose to ‘deny yourself’ and allow the grace of God to transform you? I know Jesus thought it was worth everything He had. His love never fails.

~C

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Psalms 139:17-18 In Action

Sunday, February 23, 2014

Yesterday I had an amazing morning praising and worshipping God and hearing His voice!

To back up a little bit, Craig and I had had a fairly crazy week, with busy schedules and I had only gotten into the secret place with God twice. 🙁 Towards the end of the week, I noticed a deterioriation in my attitude, thoughts towards work/people and even distractions started to creep back in that took time away from me getting into the Word. Early Saturday morning, I decided to get militant and say ‘enough was enough’. The thoughts and attitude I had were not who I am and so I got back into a place of praise, thanking Jesus that He had died to show my value and restore me back to an identity of sonship. I declared that banner over myself, that I am a daughter of the most High and His love lives in me.

After that, Craig and I went for our long run (down in Coffs Harbour this time) and with large sections of it on the beach. As we got onto the sand and I saw the sunrise creeping up over the horizon, my heart was overwhelmed with awe of God, His love and His amazingly beautiful artistic creations. I literally felt like a child seeing the sunrise over the ocean for the first time! It was breathtaking!

As we kept running on the sand, I was reminded of a scripture in Psalms 139:17-18 (NKJV) that says “How precious also are your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand;”

Craig and I were marvelling at how we couldn’t even begin to start counting the sand if we just grabbed a handful, let alone all the grains of sand in the world and yet His thoughts towards us would number more than all the grains of sand. That is mindblowing when you really think about it. So I innocently asked God if He could share with us just one of those thoughts that He had for each of us that day. Pretty much straight after that, the word ‘Brazen’ dropped into my heart.

I thought ‘brazen?? … Isn’t that a bad word? Or does it mean fiery – full of confidence?’ I pondered on it for a while before asking Craig if he knew what it meant and he was a little unsure but thought it meant reckless. Anyway, I resolved to look it up when we finished our run.

Continuing on the run with joy in my heart and praise on my lips, I felt the Lord say, rather than just greeting passer bys with ‘Good morning’, why don’t you tell them that I love them? For a few seconds, I thought ‘umm really God?’ but then the thought quickly went away as I realised why on earth would I want to keep all the love that was within me at the time to myself? I was so full of His love, I could have bursted. It was only right that I shared Him with those He loved also.

It was so random but so fun and fulfilling as I randomly picked out people and greeted them with ‘Good morning – God loves you!’ and gave them a big smile. What started out a little uncomfortable became so great and natural. I didn’t really care if they responded in a negative way or responded at all, the only thing that mattered was letting them know that God indeed loves them!

Of course when we got back I looked up the word ‘brazen’ and this is what it means:

– Bold and without shame. Forward, presumptious, unashamed, unabashed and unembarrassed.

– To endure an embarrassing or difficult situation by behaving with apparent confidence and lack of shame.

WOW! Thank you Lord. I want to be so brazen for you and the gospel of your Kingdom!!

~ D

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Discipleship Looks Like?

Saturday, February 8, 2014

We came accross this wonderful presentation and wanted to share with everyone what we believe being a disciple of Jesus Christ is all about. Sit back and soak it in ….

Have a wonderful day full of the Love of Christ.

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Running After God

Sunday, February 2, 2014

Those that know us are aware of our passion for running. In fact, last July, the grace of God allowed us to complete a marathon together – pictured above. Elated and relieved would have been my first feelings upon crossing that finish line. There are a number of things that can be said for running 42.2km – perhaps the word ‘crazy’ might be going through your mind and I’m sure you wouldn’t be alone in thinking so 🙂 Well whatever comes to mind, the one thing that is for certain is that it takes endurance!

God has taught us many things about endurance, both in the natural and the spiritual. Some of the scriptures He brought to life throughout our training included:

1 Cor. 9: 24-27 (MSG)

You’ve all been to the stadium and seen the athletes race. Everyone runs; one wins. Run to win. All good athletes train hard. They do it for a gold medal that tarnishes and fades. You’re after one that’s gold eternally. I don’t know about you, but I’m running hard for the finish line. I’m giving it everything I’ve got. No sloppy living for me! I’m staying alert and in top condition. I’m not going to get caught napping, telling everyone else all about it and then missing out myself.

Phil. 3:14 (NKJV)

I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

And of course, the ever so popular, Hebrews 12:1-2 (MSG)

Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!

God spoke to us through these scriptures around disciplining our bodies through the training and reminding us that we have dominion over it. I was constantly amazed at what the body was capable of. Things I thought were not possible, became not only possible, but achieved through consistency and a short period of time. He reminded us that the race we run, in the spiritual, is not for a temporary prize but for one that is eternal in Christ Jesus. We needed to remember that it is all unto His glory.

By far the scripture that was key in our training journey was that in Hebrews. One Saturday morning, when I was out on a 3 hour long run, the Lord gave me a vision in the natural of a lone tree on one of the hills that I often passed on this training route. The Lord spoke to me and showed me that that tree was Him standing there with His arms wide open beckoning me to come to Him and that He loved me. It gave me motivation to run all the more faster towards Him. As I got closer, I heard Him say “Look to me. I am all you need. I am the author and finisher of your faith.” So I kept looking up at the tree. At this stage I was nearing about the 20km mark in my run and I was a little fatigued. There was a rise in the road and big thick trees lined the side the road, seemingly distracting or crowding out this tree on the Hill. I heard the Lord’s voice again saying “these trees that you see represent the distractions and circumstances of life. Look past them and look unto me. I am still here. I am always here and I will sustain you.” Sure enough I peered through the trees and kept looking up. I could still see the tree. My legs were quite fatigued coming up this hill, but I was reminded that He would sustain me. As I got to the top of the hill, the view was clear again and I felt a shot of adrenalin through my body to continue on my way. The Lord continued to say “I am your provider. Always look to me no matter what you are going through, because I AM the author and finisher of your faith and will sustain you through all times” – WOW! I felt such renewed energy and no longer fatigued.

The Lord is amazing! His love empowers us to run after Him and continue to look to Him to sustain us in ALL things. I love that He has shown us so much in the natural using our passion for running. We not only want to run well, but we want to finish well!

~ D

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The Secret Place

Monday, January 27, 2014

The secret place where we meet God is perhaps one of the most important places for us as Christians yet it is so elusive to many. It is a place of communion and deepest intimacy with our heavenly Father as we surrender ourselves wholly to Him. Psalm 91:1 says “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” I love that word ‘abide’ because it means to ‘dwell’ or ‘permanently stay’. Imagine that – 24/7 communion with God?? What would that even look like?

For some time, God has been drawing us back to a place of intimacy, but all we’ve wanted to know from Him was our purpose – what was our mission? What were we to do next? Each time we asked, God told us to return to our first love and seek Him first. I guess we haven’t been hungry enough … until now.

A couple of days ago we obtained a revelation from Mark 3:13-15

“And He went up on the mountain and called to Him those He Himself wanted. And they came to Him. Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach, and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons”

The words ‘be with Him’ jumped out like they never did before. Here we were talking about how the western church don’t often see the miracles that happen so often in the third world nations such as seeing the dead being raised, blind eyes opening and the sick being healed or even simply where is the power of God today? I mean, let’s be honest, how often do we see these things in Australia, in our own towns and cities today? This is definitely not a slur on the body by any measure, but you’ve got to wonder why?

This scripture points out to us, the importance of being with Him. Before the disciples were sent out to preach and do anything in the power of God, they were to be with Him. Those words ‘be with Him’ really echoed in our hearts and challenged us to the core. How often we want the power, the miracle or the manifestation, without having first drawn from an intimate relationship with God! How we want to run towards purpose, without first truly knowing the One who gives purpose!

We are undone and God’s love continues to overwhelm us! The God of the universe wants a close, intimate relationship with us so we can BE like Him and know His heart in all things! WOW.

So as we come to the end of a month of vegan and water fasting, we transition into a new month with a new commitment – to daily seek Him in the secret place – to allow His love to firmly establish us in our identities and infuse us to the point of overflowing. A place where, we simply can’t help but, BECOME LOVE.

~D

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