Inspiration

It's no surprise. 200 blog entries later, we're still praising God and giving Him the glory! And that, too, is no real surprise, for God's daily presence and equipping is always a welcomed inspiration to us and leaves us brimming with praise at the end of each day.

Leslie Brandt, author of Psalms Now, commences his paraphrase of Psalm 95 with these words, "Let us begin this day with singing, whether we feel like it or not" and ends with the phrase, "Then we may end this day with praises, because we know ~ and may even feel ~ that we shall forever be the objects of God's concern and the children of His love."

Yes! How true it was today and will be for every tomorrow. As we have the opportunity to daily share the Word of God in various corporate and personal ministry situations, we always find that Scripture never fails to provide encouragement, confirmation, healing and hope in the lives of those we minister to. Though it's a delight to know that God continues to work in and through us, we recognize that we are only all we need to be because of Him. It's all about Jesus! Our God-given potential is only reached through Christ-inspiration.

2 Timothy 3:16 (AB) ~ "Every Scripture is God-breathed (given by His inspiration) and profitable for instruction, for reproof and conviction of sin, for correction of error and discipline in obedience, [and] for training in righteousness (in holy living, in conformity to God's will in thought, purpose, and action)..."

You Know You're An Officer's Kid When...

• It's not "home", it's "The Quarters"
• You learn at a very young age how to play a brass instrument.
• You get asked a million times "The Salvation Army is a...CHURCH?"followed by:"Yeah...but what do your parents DO?"
• By the fourth year you've been in one place you get nervous around move time.
• You have friends in at least five different area codes and think nothing of it.
• You find yourself drawn to the clearence racks when you walk into a store.
• Your parents have an endless supply of Hallmark in storage somewhere.
• Most of your parents friends have the initals: DC, DYS, CO, DS.
• "Family meetings" usually mean you're moving.
• You can't imagine how someone could live in one place their entire life.
• At age 16 you go on your first date using the 15 passenger van.
• Your parents show up in full uniform to any parent teacher conference.

Acknowledgment to Melissa Heatwole (Facebook).

Doing Your Best

This sermon illustration from yesterday still comes to mind.
So here it is for your consideration...

Cathy Rigby was a member of the US Women’s Gymnastics Team during the 1972 Olympics held in Munich, Germany. As the reigning champion she had only one goal in mind ~ to win a gold medal. Prior to the Olympics she had trained longer and harder than she ever had before. On the day the competition began, she prayed for the strength to control her emotions so that she could get through her routine without making mistakes. She was tense with determination not to let herself or her country down.

She performed well, but when it was all over and the winners were announced, her name was not among them. Cathy was crushed. Afterward, she joined her parents in the stands all set for a good cry. As she sat down, she could barely manage to say, “I’m sorry. I did my best.” To which her mother said, “You know that, and I know that, and I’m sure God knows that too.”

Then, she heard her mother say 10 words that have impacted her life like none other: “Doing your best is more important than being the best.”

Galatians 6:4 (MSG) ~ "Each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life."

Pleasant Sunday Afternoon

The Surrey Hills Chamber Orchestra provided an hour long concert of classics from Beethoven, Greig, Tchaikovsky and Wagner for the benefit of Inala residents and it was certainly a very Pleasant Sunday Afternoon.

There is a saying, "Music is a window to the soul". This being true, we were all thoroughly enriched to the depths. Observing those in attendance, it was evident the music was making a connection in more ways than one.

God, however, touches our souls like none other. When we allow Christ to take the lead as conductor of our lives, we experience the most perfect symphony of grace. His baton brings love, healing, restoration and forgiveness. Hallelujah!

Psalm 81:1-2 (NIV) ~ "Sing for joy to God our strength; shout aloud to the God of Jacob! Begin the music, strike the tambourine, play the melodious harp and lyre."

Murmurs In The Ranks

Focussing on David, the courageous shepherd-boy cum Goliath-slayer, we were encouraged by God's Word today that to live an accomplished life means maintaining a courageous, confident and committed faith.

In her Bible message, Dabak shared these thoughts:

• David is doing something that no one else on that battlefield was doing—displaying a strong confidence in the Lord.
• We need to be more like David than like Eliab. Eliab could only see how big Goliath was, while David could only see how big God is. When we fail to display great confidence in the ability of God, we are missing out on some of life’s great opportunities.
• David didn’t just talk—he acted on his convictions.

There must have been a tremendous amount of talking going on in the Isralite army that day. But it took a courageous, God-confident, committed boy to step up the task and prove to the rest that all the time God had a victory plan in mind.

Lord, help us to not simply talk about faith, but rather live out our convictions!

Addio Maestro

Luciano Pavarotti

1935~2007

With the death of Pavarotti yesterday, the world has lost one of its finest tenor voices. His voice was pure, pitch perfect and powerful. On a news report today was a clip of Pavarotti stating confidently during a media interview, "I make people happy. I know God has done something special for me. He kissed my vocal cords, and that I know."

Lord, it is my prayer that all Your people would know deep down that You've done something special for us. That we might sense the kiss of Your favour on us personally and use our voices to praise You. May our lives reflect purity of heart, "pitch perfect" character and model the power of Your love.

So be it...

Psalm 63:5 (NIV) ~ "My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you."

M07

Inspiring worship, great music and Spirit-filled divisional leaders, Majors Ron and Robyn Clinch, made the M07 Rally tonight a time of spiritual encouragement. We were reminded again that God's forever-promised Presence with us is more than sufficient to equip us to be mobilized for mission. We were encouraged to dream big for God and then make sure that we do all we can to give the dream legs of action.

State of the Division... Healthy ~ growing, with a need to make the most of the momentum for Kingdom growth.
State of the Divisionalites... Faithful ~ enthusiastic with a need to be more fully reliant on God for what He can and will do through us.

2 Corinthians 1:1 (MSG) ~ "I... have been sent on a special mission by the Messiah, Jesus, planned by God himself."