God's Hands

We need to seek God’s hand on our lives, and realize that God’s hands are good hands!

This morning as we reflected on Jeremiah's vision (18:1-6), we were encouraged to:

• Desire God’s hands…for they are hands that desire to bless you; they are hands that desire your good for His glory.
• Depend on God’s hands…for they are hands that are determined to guide; they will direct us toward an abundant spiritual blessing in Christ.
• Delight in God’s hands…for there is no safer place to be than in God’s hands; and there is no more exciting place to be than in God’s hands.

A 2nd century Christian, named Irenaues, left behind this challenging piece of prose.

From God’s Hands
It is not you who shape God; it is God that shapes you.
If then you are the work of God, await the hand of the Artist who does all things in due season.
Offer the Potter your heart, soft and tractable, and keep the form in which the Artist has fashioned you.
Let your clay be moist, lest you grow hard and lose the imprint of the Potter’s fingers.

Kaye & John Williamson

My thoughts and prayers were focussed today on Kaye & John Williamson, who departed this morning to take up their first overseas appointments in Jamaica (Carribbean Territory). Leaving family, friends and the comforts of home to serve God in a new culture and a different field of ministry is challenging to say the least. But we know that when we move out of our comfort zone and trust God fully, we move more fully into Christ's grace zone where He always provides for us and rewards us "more than we can ask or imagine".

Learn to trust God fully, and move out of your personal comfort zone into God's grace zone!

Matthew 6:6 (MSG) ~ "Here's what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won't be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace."

Heart's Desire

While ministering in Malaysia in 1997 I was privileged to share in personal Christian fellowship with worship leader, Don Moen. Every word he sang and every note he played was an expression of his passionate love for Jesus and his deep desire to lead worshippers into God's gracious and awesome presence.

His genuine Christian witness made a great impression on me, as did his musical compositions. Here is one of Don Moen's worship songs that continues to inspire me whenever I recall it.

I just want to be where You are,
Dwelling daily in Your presence;
I don't want to worship from afar,
Draw me near to where You are.

I want to be where You are, dwelling in Your presence,
Feasting at Your table, surrounded by Your glory;
In Your presence that's where I always want to be,
I just want to be, I just want to be with You.

Is that your desire? I can honestly say, "It's my heart's desire!"

Psalm 27:4 (NIV) ~ "One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple."

Sacred Privilege

A prayerful encounter with a nursing home resident this morning caused me to be reminded that those anointed and appointed by God for Christian service have both the sacred obligation and wonderful privilege of coming confidently before the Most High on behalf of others.

In his book, Prayer: Finding the heart's true home, Richard Foster states that "by means of intercessory prayer God extends to each of us a personalized, hand-engraved invitation to become intimately involved in labouring for the well-being of others." (pg. 214)

We can each make a difference if we act personally on the sacred privilege of Intercessory Prayer.

Matthew 6:14 (MSG) ~ "In prayer there is a connection between what God does and what you do."

"Service Above Self"

When Frank Collins spoke at the 1911 Portland convention, I doubt he had any idea that a phrase he used on that occasion ~ Service, Not Self ~ would go on to become the well-recognized motto of Rotary Interational. At the Rotary convention in 1950 "Service Above Self" was adopted as the worldwide motto that continues to live on and identify the very spirit of Rotarian service today.

On Saturday morning I was privileged to work with my dedicated community services team and collate 750 'welcome packs' that will be provided to Box Hill Hospital's Upton House facility.

The opportunity for fellowship was valuable, but the knowledge that our team effort is going to benefit others as we seek to be of service to the local community is an even greater reward.

Click on the image at right to read the interesting story.

Well, they say a picture tells a thousand words...so take a look at these and let your mind write it's own essay!

Be The Blessing!

One of the 'missing gems' from the current edition of our Salvation Army songbook is 'Make Me A Blessing'.
These are the words that we concluded our worship time with this morning.

Out in the highways and byways of life, many are the weary and sad;
Carry the sunshine where darkness is rife, making the sorrowing glad.

Make me a blessing, make me a blessing;
Out of my life may Jesus shine.
Make me a blessing, O Saviour I pray.
Make me a blessing to someone today.

Tell the sweet story of Christ and His love; tell of His pow'r to forgive;
Others will trust Him if only you prove true every moment you live.

Give as 'twas given to you in your need; love as the Master loved you;
Be to the helpless a helper indeed; unto your mission be true.

I have no doubt that God calls us to live out our faith in such a way that we 'speak life and hope' into the broken lives of those who experience personal devastation, hopelessness and despair.

Will you allow God to enable you to 'be that blessing'?

Psalm 111:10 (MSG) ~ "The good life begins in the fear of God — Do that and you'll know the blessing of God. His Hallelujah lasts forever!"

Speaking Life And Hope

Confronting...soul-wrenching... spirit-inspiring...that's how I'd sum up the OASIS documentary aired tonight on ABC focussing on the prevalence of youth homelessness and addictions in Australia. I was moved to tears and, honestly speaking, need some more time to really process all that we saw and heard discussed.

But without a doubt, this was clear and plain ~ Captains Paul and Robbin Moulds, and the volunteer staff at the OASIS centre, are legends in their field and their consistent and caring influence in the lives of Sydney's youth is both compassionately Christlike and personally empowering in enabling young people to seek a change for the better.

A comment made in the documentary is still ringing in my ears and forces me to question: "If we don't speak life and hope into the lives of 'needy' others, who will?" It's a question that is not only relevant to youth facing homelessness and drug addictions; it is relevant to all people in all aspects of our society who are broken-hearted and in despair because of their individual experience of a range of personal, social, cultural and spiritual injustices.

The challenge here is to be 'salt and light' right where God has placed you, speaking life and hope into the lives of those you come into contact with everyday.

Deuteronomy 33:27 (NIV) ~ "The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms."