Psalm 100
1 Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!2 Serve the Lord with gladness!
Come into his presence with singing!
3 Know that the Lord, he is God!
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him; bless his name!
5 For the Lord is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.
The Post is picked out before knowing what the Scripture will be. When the Scripture appears again, apparently, we are not finished discussing this Scripture!
When John the Baptist began his ministry - he wanted the paths to be clear, straight and going in the right direction. Preparing a Path God would love to travel.
Jesus, of course did eclipse John the Baptist and Jesus did this life and in John 14, 15, 16 told us Jesus had found Joy living this life. Jesus was not one to whitewash to make the people feel better.
Any time we have experienced trauma in the news, we tend to be pulled down. Earthquakes. Fires. Solar Flares. People discussing huge Hail storms from the last year.
And I read an article from Father Mike Endicott today.
Marvelous. Perfect for the weather and the worry.
When Father Mike came to visit us, I had prayed for my oldest son to move because his insurance job had decided all workers could work from home and he was far from us and not really happy in a city far away. I went to Father Mike and he said he thought my arm would be ok. I said no, I was fasting and praying for my son. And Father Mike - who has a very, very well known healing career - said I had an arm problem. But because I was diligently praying for someone else - God would be merciful to my arm. I was pretty disappointed and his wife asked about arm health questions in our family and said this was prophetic. And my son returned to live with us for a few months before moving in with old friends of his. As he moved out, I was having arm surgery in 2016 for a tumor that turned out to be a benign cyst. And as he moved, again, to Michigan for Law School, I had to have surgery just in time for moving him to Law School and Hurricane Harvey. Four Benign tumors same arm - praying with belief - yes, we are done here. Thank God.
But Father Mike's article was on my heart and I decided to share this with you. I follow him on Facebook - Fr. Mike does post very interesting articles, but does not reply - Fr. Mike is blind. And has the most amazing healing ministry. He leans to remembering God is the "Good Father" and you never have to beg God like He is a poor parent or 'bad dad'.
God is Perfectly Willing. God one day tapped Father Mike Endicott, in his astonishment, in conversation (his 20th year as a Priest in the Church of England). Telling Fr. Mike he had accepted being blind was truly God's Will. God told Father Mike had done a great job with God's will for himself and blindness. And instead of getting depressed - praying for people - to praise God for His Good Will and see where God was willing. Voila. Bam. Heavenly Host. Choirs. The Willingness of God has made Father Mike Endicott's Healing Career - Move Mountains.
POWER IN THE PEWS I have spent a great deal of time over the past fifteen years roaming the western church worldwide, (and of course UK) teaching kingdom theology as best I can and generally having a whale of a time. Throughout that experience I have observed a number of general issues: 1. That white Victorian Christianity is in steep decline. 2. That as our congregations grow older, the folks on the pews have greater needs; larger families so a greater range of need, looser standards in society generally and the consequential problems and pain of every kind. 3. Whilst every church seems to lead us formally in prayer for many very serious and troubling circumstances around the world, the sharp heart focus of the average pew Christian lies not there but in their own families, in their own pain. Very often all we can do is encourage them to speak out a troubled name (as long as it’s not their own as that may be deemed selfish). 4. We have not taught our people to pray. We have taught them the various kinds of prayer at Sunday School but generally not since. 5. This means that, by and large, we have been taught to wait until our leader has finished praying and to then speak out an Amen. That’s often all there is to it. 6. There seems little evidence on the pews of an option to include God in life’s difficulties. There is little practical working knowledge of the kingdom. This may be because the church has for centuries taught us that church and kingdom are the same thing. The church can’t mend a broken life so that option usually closes down. 7. The church, many centuries ago, lost its trust in Our Lord and turned to the Saints and their relics for healing. Much of that has since dwindled and is even now largely lost. No trust no healing and therefore little point in going for that church option. 8. The pain remains on the pews. Many modern pulpiteers and church Gatekeepers actively steer their people away from the possibility of a healing God and a healing kingdom, possibly out of their own ignorance and fear of such things? 9. Of course the bodies involved in various healing ministries need to attract and train new workers and we assumed that they might be filling that need with their courses. 10. These courses, I arrogantly assume, are pointing at the original publishing ministry or even at their ministry methodology itself. However, the need of the church is far greater. 11. My own spirit tires of yet more after more training courses while the church sits in pain on its pews and the pulpiteers and Gatekeepers remain impotent to help. 12. We so badly need to educate the pews, not in healing ministry at all as most have no interest in doing that. To do this we need to rekindle their trust in the kingdom and its workings, the Cross and its workings today and equate them more thoroughly in the nature of Christ so that they begin once more to trust. Just a little trust will be enough for God. If we face up to the truth about kingdom things, we find that the church’s faith has gone negative. 13. The church pews do not need any more ministry information or training schemes. The church needs to raise her trust in the kingdom and its King. That way the pews will be moved more to confident healing prayer. 14. I constantly remind myself how the kingdom moves. As trust rises up and meets Grace coming down so God is given elbow room to move. 15. Wether or not we could ever agree on a simple and practical healing theology which will lift trust on the pews is another initial hurdle, another one being the question of jumping over the pulpits to get this good news to the pews. My own spirit wants no more courses to train specialists in specialist methods but to help the pained people on the pews to trust more in their God. I’m sure the healing ministry is a calling on every Christian in every pew and, if only some body could encourage it, what a powerful kingdom witness church we would belong to! Still dreaming, Mike Endicott Please share this! |
The Bible tells us of times in all generations that have included joy to come.
Moses believed this of his life and this certainly proved to be true:
Numbers 10:29
Then Moses said to Hobab the son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses' father-in-law, "We are setting out to the place of which the LORD said, 'I will give it to you'; come with us and we will do you good, for the LORD has promised good concerning Israel."
When people find something magnificently good, they do want to share the Goodness of God.
Hezekiah trusted God and the people worked hard to make sure that all would be in order for God. In fact at one time, Hezekiah had to turn away the tributes to God, there was no place for them. They had loaded all of the Temple.
2 Chronicles 29:30
Moreover, King Hezekiah and the officials ordered the Levites to sing praises to the LORD with the words of David and Asaph the seer. So they sang praises with joy, and bowed down and worshiped."
We are prone to dismiss "All things work together for Good for those who love the Lord and work according to His Purpose"
- - - sometimes we need to see blessings with eyes of faith. Hope of Promise God would Fill.
Sometimes when I pray, I picture the huge, gigantic rock the Children of Israel carried in the Exodus because the rock unfailingly gave Water. Living Water.
And I place myself up high, upon Jesus as my foundation.
Mount Nebo over looks Israel in all of Israel's Glory.
Abba, Our Abba,
Renew and Fill us again and again, with Your Holy Spirit. Live and dwell richly in us. Fill us with Expectation of Your Goodness and Glory.
We thank You for our Recent health issues had good, good, good solutions. We are praying for - Paul, Ken, Bruce M, Marc, Julie. We are praying for the Goodness You have Provided. We are grateful for how many good turns we have seen as we have prayed. I am amazingly grateful to have fine use of my arm.
Giving You thanks for my Loved ones. Keep them tenderly, near You.
Bless us to walk in Your Will knowing Your Hope and Your Future.
We all need a Gratitude Journal and I will start one.
We will put down our burdens when we pray and come away with renewal in the Joy of Love.
Bless those we love and pray for. Bless these Churches tomorrow to always be a blessing to Jesus. And Bless our Nation and Christians around the world.
Blessings upon Jesus, we Know He Fulfills His Word and Promises to me and to you.
In Jesus. In Jesus Christ. In Jesus, our wonderful Savior, we give You Thanks. Amen.
♔ Lord Jesus Saves! †
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