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Monday Mar 10, 2014
Monday Mar 10, 2014
Monday Think Spot
10 March 2014
Pray and Prevail
Welcome to Partakers Think Spot. I pray this Monday morning finds you doing well. I am Regina and I am from SC in the United States. I want to talk with you this morning about Praying and Prevailing!
Let's turn for a moment to James 5:16. The earnest prayer of righteous person has great power and wonderful results. When Israel had made the golden calf Moses returned to the LORD and said, "Alas, these people have committed a terrible sin, but now please forgive them, forgive their sin, and if not, then blot me out of the record You are keeping. That can be found in Exodus 32 verses 31-32. That was persistence.
Moses would rather have died than not have his people forgiven. When God had heard him and said he would send an angel with the people, Moses came again. He would not be content, until, in answer to his prayer, God himself should go with them. God had said, "I will indeed do what you have asked." Exodus 33:17 After that, in answer to Moses' prayer, "Let me see your glorious presence,"Exodus 33:18, God made his goodness pass before him. Then Moses at once began pleading,"O, Lord, then please go with us." Exodus 34:9. Moses was up on that mountain with the Lord for 40 days and 40 nights. That's found in Exodus 34:28. Moses was persistent with God and he prevailed. He proves that the person who truly lives near God shares in the same power of intercession which there is in Jesus.
James teaches us to pray for each other. "The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and wonderful results. Praise God! He still waits for us to seek him! Faith in a prayer-hearing God will make a prayer-loving Christian. And you know, you may be lacking in confidence right now and you may be saying to yourself, "Why would God want to help me? Why would he want to do what I am asking?"
Well, you know what? That dream or that vision, that persistence that you feel gnawing at you saying, "I have to do this! I have to do this, but I don't know how." Don't let the "but I don't know how" stop you! Because God gave you that vision, that came from him! And he tells us in Jeremiah 29:11-14, "For I know the plans that I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me, when you search for me with all of your heart. I will be found by you," declares the Lord, "and I will restore your fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I driven you," declares the Lord, "and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile."
Life may have been hard for you up until this point. You know, you may just be in survival mode, just barely making it from day to day. That's NOT God's plan for you and do not accept the conditioning of the world that tells you there's no better. Because God has a better plan for you. He tells us that in Jeremiah. He has a plan which offers you a future and a hope. So persistently pray to him. Moses spent 40 days and 40 nights on that mountain before God. And God heard him and God answered his prayer. He'll do the same for you!
Let's close now in prayer this morning:
Father, I thank you for each listener that come out to be with us this morning. I pray that this word pushed into them a light, a light where darkness has been prevailing for a while. I hope it just lit up their whole world. I pray that it encouraged them, that it allowed them to grasp hold to that promise you made in Jeremiah 29 that said you have a plan for us, and that plan is a good plan which brings us a future and a hope. Father I thank you for the blessings that you have already given us. I thank you that we are surviving, that we have food, that we have clothing, that we are not cold in these frigid temperatures. And I thank you for the blessings which are yet to come. In Jesus name I pray and ask these things, amen. Thank you all for being with us today. I pray you will come back each day for a word of encouragement from everyone who participates in Partakers Think Spot. You can also find Partakers on the web. Just do a Google search for Partakers Ministry and you will find us and we look forward to meeting with you again tomorrow morning. God bless you!
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Monday Mar 03, 2014
Monday Mar 03, 2014
Monday Think Spot
3 March 2014
Stone Walls Give Way
When we pray consistently we will receive an entrance into God's will of which we would otherwise know nothing. We will receive blessing above all we ask or think. The teaching and power of the Holy Spirit are unalterably linked to prayer. The power that the Church's prayer has is shown not only as the apostles pray but also as the Christian community does.
In Acts 12 Peter is in prison awaiting execution. The death of James had aroused the Church to a sense of great danger; the thought of losing Peter, too, wakened all their energies. They went to prayer. Prayer was effective; Peter was delivered. When he came to the house of Mary he found "many were gathered for prayer" (Acts 12:12). Double chains, soldiers, and the iron gate - all gave way before the power from heaven that prayer brought to his rescue. The power of the Roman Empire was nothing in the presence of the power that the Church wielded in prayer. Those Christians stood in close and living relationship with their Lord. They knew well that the words, "I have been given complete authority" and "And be sure of this, I am with you always" were absolutely true. They had faith in His promise to hear them whatever they asked. They prayed in the assurance that the powers of heaven bot only could work on earth but that would work at the Church's request on its behalf.
The same is true today. Just as the church, the community, prayed for Peter that day, and he was released from prison miraculously by God, we, too, can see those miracles. God's word says that He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He doesn't change. So, we can come together for communal prayer, or we can pray alone at home, either way as long as we're in prayer we're communicating with God. When we're seeking His will, He will let us know what that will is. He will lead us in that will. And we can see Him at work. We can see Him at work in many lives.
My father in law's life is one of those that we have recently seen. He recently had open heart surgery, had an aortic valve replacement done, a triple by-pass, and had a stroke while he was having surgery. So he can no longer live alone. He had someone staying with him that we just weren't sure about and we wanted to talk to my father in law about it but we did not want to offend him or make him feel that he couldn't make decisions when, obviously, he can. So, I went to prayer. I prayed. I have a prayer group that I am with that I asked to pray, and we all sought God's will. I never had to open my mouth to my father in law concerning this because God took care of it. God had someone else that was helping my father in law speak to him about getting a power of attorney, which brought him protections. My father in law heeded their advice. He did set up a power of attorney which protects him from some dangers that we were concerned about. God answered that prayer, those prayers, my prayer, the prayer of the group that I had praying. And he'll do the same for you if we just seek His will and come to Him with a pure heart, a heart for His will to be done. He will answer those prayers.
I just want to close now. I thank you for being with us here on Partakers and I hope that you will come back every day for a word of encouragement. I pray that you have a blessed week. Let's close in prayer: Father, I thank you for each listener this morning. I ask you to pour down a double blessing upon each of them, Father. Allow them to see your will at work. Encourage them through their prayer and communication with you, Lord. Thank you. Thank you for each one because I truly believe that each one that is listening this morning is here by divine appointment, by your will for this message, Father. I just ask you to hold them close, protect them, heal their bodies of sickness, heal their finances that may be lacking, and provide them with every need that they may have. In Jesus name I pray and ask these things. I thank you for the blessings that you have already provided, I thank you for the blessings yet to come. Amen.
Thank you for joining us here on Partakers Think Spot. Come back every day for a bit of helpful encouragement to get you throughout your week.
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Monday Jul 09, 2012
Monday Jul 09, 2012
9th July 2012
G'day! Welcome to Partakers Think Spot at the start of new week on Monday the 9th of July 2012.
David a man after God's own heart As he made his way to the battlefield where his brothers were fighting in King Saul's army against the Philistines, David's own walk with the Lord would have been focussed on his mission. His father had requested that he take food to his brothers to sustain them in perilous times when the Philistines, the enemies of Israel were trying to dominate and overcome God's people Israel.
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He might have been thinking of how his brothers would receive him. Would they would receive him graciously and kindly? Or would they treat him wrongfully. We are given to think there was not complete harmony between the sons especially as we see their response when David does arrive at the Israel camp. (1 Samuel 17:28) The wonderful thing that I considered about this account the other day was how David was so in tune with God and so alerted, he was ready for anything the Lord required of him to do that day as possibly with every other day, This day was different to his usual sheep watching days. He had to go to a foreign and dangerous place, the valley of Elah a battleground where Israel, God's own people were in combat with the philistines who had many gods, Was David ready for any warfare he might encounter? Had he stopped to think and pray about it that day? What was to take place that day was obviously unknown to him but not to God. I would suggest from what we read that David was walking and talking with God as he journeyed. He arrives some would say amazingly at the very precise moment that Goliath is bellowing out his daily challenge for a man from the Israel camp to go out and fight him. He had said if any of you win this sole combat with me your side will be deemed the winners and the opposing side side will be subject to them. You will notice in this boastful statement by Goliath that there was one person missing in all this. The Lord God Almighty. God was being left out of Goliath's life. however he was very much in the mind of David as he travelled and also as he arrived. God was everything to him at this time. He is described in the Bible as a man after God's heart. What a lovely description of him at this time. David was livid as he witnessed this arrogant giant challenging Israel. "How dare he talk about God's people like he did and what disrespect for God "( Check it out in 1 Samuel 17:) So he determines to do something about it. His brothers were angry at what he suggested. They, the older brothers considered the impudence of David. Weren't they the soldiers he was a mere shepherd boy who looked after a few of Dad's sheep. He was a nobody in their eyes. Soon they would be forced to collect back their thoughts hurriedly at what took place next. The whole situation was changed dramatically because someone, a mere boy, took up the challenge of this moment which affected a great many people, two very strong nations. Do you realise what a change your prayers can make to a complete world if you have God on your side? David goes to the king and suggests that Saul send him. The king tries to put him off but David is not going to let this one go. Hr tries Saul's armour at Saul's suggestion but staggering in armour twenty sizes too big for him and says "I will use in this battle only weapons I am used to. The King said "well ok may God be with you" One thing for sure Saul would not be found at his side as he walked and ran towards Goliath of Gath. Saul was probably hiding away in a tent somewhere. That was the kind of man he was turning out to be "Its a foregone conclusion isn't it?. He might have said. He is bound to lose but I will allow this to take place." Well I am not going to go into the whole story, no time now but simply to mention something which I think is very significant. We do not know what giants we will be called to fight against this day or tomorrow but are we alert as David was and ready for anything to further the work of Christ which we his church should be ready to do. David shocked King Saul, his brothers and perhaps himself but he didn't shock God. God honoured a boy who lived after God's heart who knew that God was all powerful and would win the battle against this boastful godless character, and he did magnificently defeat the giant. He did something to bring glory to God and victory to God's people. He went out against Goliath not in his own strength and name but in God's name and power. We have no power of our own except to try to get in the way of God using us when we refuse to listen and obey Him. But when we submit to Him and look to Him through faith, amazing victories can be won and many advances into Satan's domain. God is looking for alerted people who love Him, treasure His Word and use prayer affectively. Aggressiveness is allowed in serving God if we rename it, passion for His glory! Using every ounce of our being to trust Him to work in and through us to bring people to the point of knowing it is with God that they have to do. Goliath fought in his own strength and lost. We always win when we fight in God's strength and are not forgetful to give Him the total glory. Paul the apostle wrote "He always causes us to triumph." Praise His wonderful name!!. Joys Prayer. How important it is that we start the day with You Lord. We do not know what any day is going to bring forth.Lord, You know everything as you are omniscient. We know we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us but we also know we do have someone whispering in our ears "You cannot do this thing you are too weak ". The devil , the world and our flesh contest against us continually and we are on a battleground of our own but God You are able to break through all this. We hear your voice saying Trust in Me alone. Call upon me in the day of trouble and I will answer you." Lord help us to develop a 24/7 relationship with You. We know you but want to know You more Lord. "Lord make me useful for Thee, Send thou thy Spirit to me. Your perfect will in me fulfil, Lord make me useful toThee." Amen
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Monday Jun 18, 2012
Monday Jun 18, 2012
18th June 2012
G'day and welcome to Partakers ThinkSpot on Monday, the 18th of June 2012. Play the audio and see how Jim and Joy are challenging you to live your faith out this week!
Count Your Blessings Reading in my Bible this morning following a pattern of reading through the Bible in a year I am not always aware till I open my accompanying Bible notes of what I am about to read. This morning I needed to read a portion of the Old Testament concerning Israel and Judah and sadly their disobedience towards God after He had blessed them so much. It was a wake up call for all of us who profess to know Christ to “Count every blessing” as the song goes then we will not forget His abundant kindness towards us Whom He loves dearly.Right Mouse click to save this as an audio mp3 file
Scripture makes it clear that that the old nature within, does sometimes blind us to God's continuous blessings which abound if we were alert to them. Parking spaces found for us, requests for quick replies for urgent needs answered swiftly, sunny days for that special event, and of course rain which we need desperately at this time in UK. We may be forgetful of that reassuring touch from the Lord when a friend comes round and says “I just felt you needed someone at this moment.” Psalm 103 reads “Bless the Lord O my soul and forget not all his blessings (benefits) towards you. If you continue in that psalm and quietly give it some thought, you will find many times God has richly blessed you as you have waited upon Him and trusted Him. To make sure you are constantly doing this without having to think about it why not share your blessings with others you meet during the course of the day? I find that is a refreshing way in serving our Lord is giving praise and glory to Him by passing your blessings on. Try it and see I am sure you will find it to be true and you will receive a measure of joy in your heart as well. In psalm 23 we read of the believer’s daily walk with the Lord and even though we walk through the vale of death we need fear no evil. Why? The Lord is with us giving us reassurances He will never leave us. Note the joy in David the psalmist’s voice as he perhaps shout “My cup runs over” Oh the joy there is to be found in knowing Jesus. Then the climax of the ages as we move towards the day when we see our wonderful Lord face to face. Psalm 23:6; “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord for ever!” Have a nice day and may you be blessed in all your circumstances and remember “Count your blessings name them one by one and it will surprise you what the Lord has done?” Joy’s Prayer Dear Loving Heavenly Father, Thank you for the wonder of knowing You as our Heavenly Father and the One who supplies our every need on every occasion we require help and surprises us with unexpected blessings which delight us. Forgive us if we ever take You for granted or forget to thank you for your regular daily blessings. Help us to remember just how dependant we are on You. We sometimes find ourselves asking even for the seeming impossible and although we may have to be patient and wait You have never let us down. As the hymn writer reminds us “We are coming to a King, large petitions with you bring we can never ask too much... You have amazing resources Lord and we can never out ask your provision. Thank you for that knowledge and help us to be wise in our asking and swift in our thanksgiving. We love You for loving us so much and making sure our cup is never empty. In Jesus Name AmenRight Mouse click to save this as an audio mp3 file
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Monday Jun 11, 2012
Monday Jun 11, 2012
11th June 2012
G'day and welcome to Partakers ThinkSpot on Monday, the 11th of June 2012. Play the audio and see how Jim and Joy are challenging you to live your faith out this week!
The best Connexion
Recently a relative warned me of a scam where someone pretending to be a BT representative was informing BT Customers that they had outstanding bills to pay and if they did not comply they would have further bills trebling the amount they were supposedly owing.
The conversation proceeded with a demonstration of the so called rep saying he would prove that he was official. He then told the person to put the phone down and try to phone a friend. The person did try and found the phone had gone dead. However not being vulnerable they refused to pay with cheque card details given which the man was requesting and the man rang off. The number he had given was given to the police and discovered to be untraceable. He had wanted to get details of the persons credit card details to gain a great deal of money that way. “Be warned”, the offended person told me.
Yes we have to be careful in this world of wrongdoing where selfishness, greed and dishonesty are prevalent in a broken society as many have turned away from the Lord.
Talking of disconnection's many do not know anything of the wonderful, beautiful and safe connexion that God wants to make with each one of us. We are all switched off and disconnected until God responds to our cry to be connected through realising our switched off connexion (Read Ephesians chapter 2:1; where disconnection is described as either being dead or alive).
The Good News (Gospel) is that God wants to be in the very centre of our lives (the power house) controlling and leading us in a way of peace joy and contentment through the amazing connections in reading the Bible and through the equally amazing connexion through prayer, where we communicate with Him and He with us in a very troubled world.
He is more than willing to connect us to Jesus our Saviour and Lord who
died for us to remove our wrongdoing justly held against us.
His glorious resurrection assures us of eternal life here begun on earth below when we become connected and a marvellous existence with Him in Heaven where we remain connected for evermore. Wow !! Isn't that amazing?
So next time you are disconnected from electricity, gas or phone (when you move house or phone) remind yourself , if you are connected to God that connexion will never change as God's power to keep is eternal. Hallelujah!! ps. The telephone line to heaven is always open and …...... is free!! I would encourage you to try it if you have never tried before .
Joys Prayer
Dear loving Heavenly Father,
Thank you for reminding us today of the wonderful relationship we can have with You and the certainty that the power line will never be broken as we continue to read our Bibles and pray every day. Not out of habit but delighting ourselves in You.
Help us to do this especially when things begin to go wrong when illness, or a sudden loss or change takes place that can alarm or cause us to be tempted to panic.
Please enable us to remain calm and to persevere knowing that whatever happens we are connected to You and that Your power is always there for us to tap into because of your wonderful love, grace and passion towards us.
You love us so much so help us to love you in return by trusting and believing that You can make everything work for good on our behalf as we bring everything to you in prayer.
“Oh what peace we often forfeit oh what needless pain we bare because we don't bring everything to You in prayer.
Lord we love you, keep us strong when trials come and keep us ever looking upwards to You and believing and trusting You in all our comings and goings.
In Jesus Name
Amen
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Monday Mar 26, 2012
Monday Mar 26, 2012
26th March 2012
G'day and welcome to Partakers ThinkSpot on Monday, the 26th of March 2012. Play the audio and see how Jim and Joy are challenging you to live your faith out this week!
You may well have heard the song 'Love Changes Everything' made famous by Michael Ball several years ago. One of the lines reads Life will never be the same again.
Certainly when a young man meets a girl and like turns to love and from once a week the scene changes and they cannot see enough of each other. In fact t they do not want to be out of each others company and marriage takes place and they become One. Life will never be the same for them ever again.
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Likewise when a person realises who Jesus Christ is and what Jesus Christ has done for them they see that in God not only do have they a Saviour but see that a vital part of their life has been missing and God has a plan for their life. Having dealt with their sin problem through atonement and now He wants them to love and serve Him. Again think of the line of that hymn. Life will never be the same.
Read the rest of this entry »Monday Mar 19, 2012
Monday Mar 19, 2012
19th March 2012
G'day and welcome to Partakers ThinkSpot on Monday, the 19th of March 2012. Play the audio and see how Jim and Joy are challenging you to live your faith out this week!
Deceivers or Receivers
2 Tim.3:7, "Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth." Approaching two young ladies and two young men who belonged to a certain religious cult (I knew this as I had met the two men previously. They were now resting from their door to door visitation at a local coffee house I go to regularly.. I had felt deep concern for them for some while and feeling compassion for them after prayer really felt pressed to ask them a particular question . This question along with its answer had been on my mind and heart all morning and I knew I was meant to use it in my work as an evangelist with someone who God would place in my path that day. Read the rest of this entry »Monday Feb 13, 2012
Monday Feb 13, 2012
13th February 2012
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G'day and welcome to Partakers ThinkSpot on Monday, the 13th of February 2012. Let's go over to Jim and Joy and discover what they are sharing with us today. Over to you, Jim! One key subject that repeatedly rings out clear and plain in the Bible is 'reconciliation'. What is the meaning of the word? Reconciliation is the re-establishing of cordial relations. So, the obvious conclusion drawn is that people are estranged from someone and need to be brought back together. When Adam and Eve were tempted or tested in the garden of Eden they were doing so as the representatives of mankind. What would man do when tempted by the devil? It was a dramatic occasion when Eve and then Adam were tested to see if they would obey the one rule God had given to them. The price of failure had already been spelt out clearly to them "the soul that sins will die" (Genesis 2:17;) They both failed the test and we read in the book of Romans that consequently death came not only upon them but upon all mankind from that day to this. This was the result of this failure to obey. (Romans 5:12) Man was out of step with the Lord and needed to be changed. They had been distanced from God through their disobedience and needed to be reconciled to God . They needed to be really sorry for their misdeeds in order to receive the gift of forgiveness from God and that was still a long way off until the coming of Jesus to whom all the sacrifices pointed., Meanwhile though their sacrifices of animals birds etc they showed their need to repent and believe in the coming Reconciler. That was the purpose of Jesus Christ's coming to reconcile us to God. (Romans 5:10;) Sin makes the righteous God angry. Sinners become God's enemies. Jesus through his death restored this relationship between us as sinners and God by His grace. The Greek word 'katallasso' means "put into friendship with" Reconciliation comes through God's initiative. Man, on his own would never be able to return to that relationship without God opening up the way through His Son and our Saviour Jesus Christ . (John 14:6) Meanwhile God overlooked their wrongs as they offered their sacrifices.Reconciliation and forgiveness could only to be obtained by The Reconciler Jesus Christ. Adam and Eve's act of disobedience broke their sweet communion with God. He had come down and met with them daily in the cool of the evening to fellowship with them. But one day when he came they were not at their usual meeting point. They were in fact hiding from God( Genesis 3). They were conscious of their guilt and were ashamed. Thankfully God took the initiative so that the solution to theirs as well as ours, is spoken of here in the very same chapter. Genesis (3:9-10) What a moment? The God of all history in the early days of His creation. When we come to the New Testament and Luke 15 and the parable of the prodigal son we see a beautiful picture of a loving father and his wayward son being reconciled. We can sense the moment when tears flowed, hearts beat faster and arms embraced each other and the word got around "he is home all is well again" If you are reconciled to God and you are at peace with Him be thankful and praise the Lord for restoring you. When a woman I had been talking to about her need of our precious Saviour and realised how precious she was to Him and how He had sought her out and given the chance to be back in fellowship with Him she was overwhelmed and saw immediately a vivid picture of the evil devil who had kept her away from Him for 60 years. She saw how she had forgotten God her heavenly Father but He certainly had not forgotten her. The tears flowed and she then rejoiced in her Reconciler, Jesus Christ her Saviour Lord and Friend. Friend you cannot be happy away from God , The sooner you return to Him the sooner you will have peace restored in your heart and joy unspeakable. Why stay outside the door when there is such a warm welcome on the inside.?Joy's Prayer
Dear Lord and Loving Heavenly Father, How thankful I am that you set up your wonderful recovery programme to restore us almost as soon as the first person decided to disobey and leave your company. Such amazing love, its difficult to take it in. I love you Lord for your very deep interest in me and the fact that you love me with an undeserving love, but also an eternal love which never fades. An 'agape' love which is prepared to forgive me time and time again when I fall. Oh!, dear Lord strengthen me in those areas where I mess up and help me conquer my failings and serve you more faithfully and love you more earnestly. Thank You that I can talk to you at any time as I cast my care on You. Hold me close please and never let me go In Jesus name AmenRight Mouse click to save this as an audio mp3 file
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Monday Feb 06, 2012
Monday Feb 06, 2012
6th February 2012
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G'day and welcome to Partakers ThinkSpot on Monday, the 6th of February 2012. Let's go over to Jim and Joy and discover what they are sharing with us today. Over to you, Jim! "Be patient in well doing" sound familiar? Yes, its in the Bible. (Romans 2:7) What does it mean? Patience is the quality that does not surrender to the circumstances or succumb under trial. It is the opposite of despondency. God is never in a hurry. Have you ever heard that? Have you ever received a promise from God and you are still waiting for the fulfilment of it?. Sarah (Abraham's wife) couldn't have a baby(Genesis 16-18 ). She had no doubt prayed and tried many times but no sign of it. Eventually she could wait no longer and wanting to hurry God along she told her husband to take a handmaid to produce the heir she desperately wanted.. To get it done quick? That was not good advice as God had it well in hand to give Sarah a baby in His own time . Patience was certainly not a quality she possessed. The Israelites suffering in Egypt for many many years languishing in Egypt in bondage but God had promised many years before that they would be delivered and even told them the number of years they would be kept there in slavery. It was a very long time but God is sovereign and is never in a hurry. He prophesied how long Israel would suffer and it came to pass. When the time came for their release brought about by the ten plagues sent by God to make the Egyptians release Israel it was a perfectly timed prophecy. But it didn't stop there. There would be more tests to come, testing their patience and trust in God. Another test of patience and trust in God would come quickly as they began their journey, hot on the heels of the last test. Hurrying from Egypt as fast as they could they suddenly discovered they were trapped and closed in by mountains on each side of them and a huge army from Egypt behind pursuing them to take them back into slavery. There was no way forward either as the Red sea appeared ahead of them. What was their response? They were angry at Moses. Moses was now on his knees before God prayed "Things are bad here Lord I am under attack from the people what shall we do?. There is no way forward." Difficult to be patient in those circumstances isn't it? .The answer from the Lord was "Stand still and see what I will do you only have to lift up your rod over Red sea leave the rest to Me." The Lord then miraculously opened up the way for them. 1 million people needing to escape, soldiers bearing down upon them, mountains hemming them in, an impossible sea to cross but... God had it all in hand. A miracle was required and a miracle took place. It is not easy putting into practice the scripture "Let patience have her perfect work" when there seems no way forward. However patience did have its perfect work in the lives of God's people and the Red Sea opened up and Israel escaped from evil Pharaoh's clutches, slavery and domination. In the New Testament we find The Lord exercising amazing patience with Peter one of the disciple.. He was a rugged fisherman who had failed in his faith and patience several times but the Lord had planned to use him powerfully as a leader to His church later in his life and that is what he became. A very strong leader among the apostles following Christ's death, resurrection and ascension. Jesus had spent three years training the disciples and surely must have said many times "How long have I been telling you these things and still you have such little faith? The pastor who has faithfully served in a new parish for several years may say "How long before we really see things moving here?" It takes a lot of patience to wait for God to work in a persons life. I knew of one lady who had to spend 38 years waiting to see her husband saved? Worth waiting for? Yes it was! 12 years praying daily, waiting for God to work in my Dad's life? Worth waiting for.? Certainly without a doubt. Forty years to wait for another members of my family to be saved. Oh to see the joy on the face of someone and the tears shed when the time comes. The key word is patience and faith in God's promise. Which promise is that? "God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance and faith in Christ." so pray on and trust for many years if necessary. Patience is not a only a virtue its an absolute necessity for the people who believe in their God.Joys Prayer.
Dear Lord reading the Old Testament we see the promise made of a coming Messiah. Isaiah prophesying 800 years before Jesus came described many details concerning His person but would it happen? Eventually in the fullness of time Jesus came and patience had her perfect work in the lives of many including two, Simeon and Anna who were waiting for the Messiah to come and when Jesus did arrive for a dedication service with Mary and Joseph they knew and recognised Jesus the Messiah. Lord, give us patience in all the struggles we are going through, that we may trust in your promises to meet all our needs in protection and provision. Your timing is always right and we are always wanting it to come asap. but give us that confidence to wait till the right time. We are praying for financial help and our friends are praying for the healing of a relative from illness, and a business to pick up, Help the young people in their studying, understanding why certain things are happening in our lives we don't want to go under Lord so please help us get through our pain and suffering. We love and trust you! In Jesus name AmenRight Mouse click to save this as an audio mp3 file
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Monday Jan 30, 2012
Monday Jan 30, 2012
30th January 2012
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G’day and welcome to Partakers Thinkspot on Monday, the 3oth of January 2012. Please do feel free to download or listen to the audio mp3 file! Recently on one of our local health walks in the countryside I was in conversation with a knowledgeable chap who had seen an interesting programme on television about birds and was bursting with interesting facts to tell me of this amazing bird called a swift. He then passed on some interesting facts about them which I want to share with you today. Swifts are amazing birds, and here are some reasons why! We shall think about them and then learn some valuable truths from their habits. 1. After leaving the nest where they hatched, they'll keep flying non-stop for three years! Isn't that amazing? 2, They even eat, mate (at high speed in what are known as screaming parties) and they even sleep in the air while flying! they can actually 'snooze' with one side of their brain resting while the other is working, and then switch to the other side. Isn't God's creation incredible? 3. Also some of 'our' swifts migrate from Great Britain as far as South Africa for winter. How fantastically strong they are though small. In addition they are the fastest bird at level flight. (up to 70mph). Sometimes they are mistaken for a swallow. Their shape is similar 4. The parent birds gather insect snacks for their chicks, carrying as many as 1,000 at one gulp! How dependant the chicks are upon their parents to care for them. 5. Swifts also choose to live in our houses and churches - they squeeze through tiny gaps to nest inside roofs. God has indeed provided for all his creatures. I was astounded as I was being told of the incredible abilities of some of these smallest and the youngest of these creatures who fly with amazing strength and skill, do incredible things while flying with accuracy to distant parts and have utmost confidence in their parents to supply all their needs. In case you didn't take it all in the first time let me repeat these amazing truths. Swifts neither touch the ground or tree or building for the first three years of their lives!. They keep flying eating, mating at high speed and even sleep in the air. Summing up they can feed from their parents who gather insect snacks for their young carrying as many as 1,000 at one gulp. The young have absolute confidence in their regular meals being supplied to them. Neither do they worry about their living accommodation as to where they live or the size of their home. They slip between very narrow gaps contentedly. What an example for us who believe in God and want to be active with and for God. Always we want to move forward making every moment count for God with the abilities He has given to us and not giving time to consider where our next meal is coming from, where we shall live or stay overnight etc. In our Bibles we find Jesus certainly is the best example of this kind of life.(Matthew 8:20;) "The foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head." "I must do the works of Him who sent me, while it is day said Jesus, the night comes when no one can work" Jesus never wasted a moment. God has promised to meet all our needs as we 'fly' with Him and 'seek' to do his will. One day when Jesus was talking with a Samaritan woman which was surprising enough to his disciples for Jews had no dealings with Samaritans, they said "you must be hungry" he replied that his food was to do the will of the Father who had sent Him and to accomplish His work." (John 4:32) He went on to say he had food the disciples knew nothing about. As we look at these examples of God's extraordinary creation we are reminded that God is looking for a faithful people who will be diligent in service for Him. God's people should aim to be single minded in their lives putting God first in all things and desiring His will above their own in every instance. Following in His footsteps. Jesus followed that maxim every day. He had no home to call his own but spoke of swallows, swifts and other birds having their nests but he had nowhere to lay his head. And although he never 'flew' he certainly was always on the move. He was up extremely early each day to pray for the needs of the day before going early in the morning to the temple to meet and talk with people and it wasn't to discuss the weather! He spoke of heavenly food he lived on when talking to his disciples when they were concerned about him missing a meal. Like the swift getting through many miles in travel he must have covered a lot of ground in three years accomplishing enough to fill a library of books with his activities and the many transformed lives through his ministry. (Read John 21) The way we live our life is important but......Remember that Jesus has first to become our Saviour and only then our example.Joy’s Prayer
Dear Lord, It is with wonder we look at your marvellous universe full of wonderful and so varied creation. From the splendour of mountain grandeur to grassy plains that can stretch for miles and miles to the small and larger animal kingdom as well as beautiful birds that fly across your majestic skies sometimes to be seen by the naked eye full of planets stars and moons. You are an amazing God and we do glory in your name and your mighty power and wisdom and your own incredible design of earth and sky. We praise and delight ourselves in your goodness to us and especially for Jesus our Saviour Lord and Friend. Thank you Lord for the privilege of living in your world and for all its benefits. We love and adore You Amen.Right Mouse click to save this as an audio mp3 file
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