Thursday, August 23, 2012

A New Place, A New Name


Continuing with the theme of John Carter we find out that when he arrives at this new place he eventually finds out that it has a different name than what he has been taught and learned over the years.  In the movie Mars is called Barsoom.  This place which he knows by a different name is called something else.  Wow, what do you think that means for us? We have now entered a new place, thought we knew the name and find out that it is called something completely different.  And that is not all we learn about this place, it has a different culture, a different people, a different mindset with different customs. It is just different.  So what do you do? Do you force your culture on this new place, or do you learn to go with the flow and adapt in this new situation? Do you stay stuck in your same ole mindset thinking and believing you know everything and that there is only one way to do things or do you make an attempt to relax and learn until you discover what you need to discover to navigate this new place?

So what do you call your new place, a place that looks familiar but is so very different from what you are used to?  Is your new place a relationship, a job, a relocation, sorrow etc.  When I was going through my various places I had various names for them: one was why, another was the ninth rung of hell, the next was help, the next was moving forward, the place I am now in is called HOLD ON and SOON.  They each represent a defining moment in my life’s journey so far.  Each place was new and terrifying and good in its own way and I learned valuable things from each new place.

So now that I have passed through those emotional storms I find myself at a place and looking at a landscape I don’t even recognise anymore.  I am now learning how to walk in a different way because I am quickly learning that the old way of doing things does not work here.  Wow, what a long long long journey.  Just like John Carter through many dangers toils and snares I have already come and this new place with the new name is scary at times.  So I make my steps tentatively until I learn to run and jump.  What I am learning like I mentioned in the last post is that there are skills that I have acquired in all those places that are now coming to the front.  A confidence and a love I have never experienced before, greater clarity of the vision that God has given me and the ability to set my face like flint to go and pursue that vision and all the parts that make up the whole. 

He was and still is trying to show me a more excellent way of doing things.  A way that is not filled with struggle, strife, stress, worry, frustration etc.  I must admit sometimes that I miss the memo but on the times I get it I must say it is soo much better than where I used to be!

So what is your new place called?  Have you realised that you are in a new place yet?  Well then tune in!

I want to encourage you that where you have come from is nothing compared to where you are and where you are going.  This new place is GLORIOUS!

Blessings!

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

A New Place


Have any of you ever watched the movie John Carter?  Well I have and it was quite interesting, let me give you a brief synopsis of the plot.  The movie is about a man who inadvertently stumbles upon a way to get to Mars when he was running from the Indians and discovers a cave full of gold.  A man from another planet is in this cave and tries to kill him but he kills him first and then as the man is dying he holds onto this amulet on his chest and repeats a phrase.  John Carter leans down to hear what the man is saying and repeats the phrase and immediately finds himself on another planet.  He doesn’t know where he is but realises that he can’t walk the normal way anymore so he stumbles along until he perfects forward movement.  At first he tries to walk, he falls down, then he tries to run and he falls down.  He then starts to jump and realises that he can do this far better than walking or running.

Have you found yourself in a new place recently whether it is spiritually or physically (as in you have had to relocate) gotten a new job, family member has died etc.  Terrifying isn’t it. New places terrify us.  They are unknown to us; we have never walked in this place before so our experiences of what has worked in the past don’t often work in the new places we find ourselves in.  The old way of doing things doesn’t fit this new place so we are left feeling scared, helpless, useless, confused, frustrated etc. trying to fit a round peg into square hole and it just gets on ya last nerve.

Well let’s take a look at John Carter he was in a new place and didn’t realise that where he was would require him to learn a new skill, a new way of doing things.  He had to adjust his thinking, his mindset and not allow frustration to frustrate him.  He took a good couple of knocks, fell down numerous times.  He got up and tried again every time until he realised that jumping worked best in this situation.  What works best for you in your new place? Is it relaxing, being quiet so you tune in to what God is saying to you or are you still running around like a chicken without a head trying to figure it out for yourself. When we are shifted we are often confused and scared but if we begin to tune in we will see the new thing that we have been given to traverse this new place.

Let me encourage you, with this new way of doing things in this new place John Carter was able to defeat the enemies that were on that planet because he could jump higher that anybody there.  What is the new skill that you have or are acquiring in this new place?    Trust me you already have it!  It may be silence, joy, peace, renewed confidence, greater self-esteem, greater wisdom etc.  Don’t get me wrong now I am not saying to forget your past or the lessons learned there, what I am saying is that they all work together for the goal at the moment.  John Carter brought all of his military training and experience with him but with the new skill and a quick lesson in changing his mindset he learned a new people and how to walk or rather jump in a new place.  He was able to assist them with defeating their enemies.

Hmmm at the beginning and end of a new place there is a new skill that we acquire or that is awakened in us for the next new place that we are going to.  TUNE IN and DISCOVER what that new skill is!

REMEMBER “All things work together for good” and “Acknowledge Him in all your ways and He shall direct thy path”.
Wow A NEW PLACE it’s beautiful here!

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

BEGINNINGS!!


Abraham was the father of faith.  He is the foundation that we have been given.  He stepped out on nothing and didn't receive the promise but he saw it afar off (the promise that God would make of him a great nation).  What he received was the beginning of it.  He saw it come to pass in the birth of his son.

Sometimes beginnings are difficult when you have gone through a process and you have not passed this way before.  I once asked God to throw me in the furnace and burn away all the crap on the inside.  When I told a friend this she said " I want God to be gently lead and guide me gradually and I thought wow why go gently just get it over with" Now I know exactly what she was talking about having come through the fire and the flood and whatever you name it I have come through it in the past 6 years.  Be careful what you ask for:  

Being pressed and stretched and pummeled into shape is not easy and it takes the help of God who is doing the process to keep you in that fire cause trust me you want to jump out at every opportunity especially when you don't know or understand what’s going on.  As one who has been there done that I can now say that I appreciate it on this side because I couldn't while I was in it.  I called it the ninth rung of hell. 

I mention Abraham because he received a beginning and not the actual promise.  I believe that when you go through the process and when you come out on the other side you receive just that a beginning. a clean slate, the freedom to run and a foundation that is firm and secure.

Now faith is intrinsic in that beginning, if Abraham didn't have the faith to step out I wonder where he would be.  If Noah didn't have the faith to build that Ark (and by doing so he condemned the world to destruction) where would we be.  I heard it said that God would have found someone else but I wonder because if we believe the premise that we are made for a specific purpose and we all have a specific assignment on this earth......hmmm that’s another topic.

The beginning is FAITH & CONFIDENCE it’s as simple and complex as that.  FAITH & CONFIDENCE that God is who he says he is and will do what he says he will do.  FAITH & CONFIDENCE where you can see nothing in front of you but you trust and believe the God who has brought you through so much.  You recognise that you are strong, healthy, confident and grateful, that you came through the darkness and someone finally turned the lights on and you can think clearly and you can FUNCTION at a new level.

FAITH & CONFIDENCE people that is what is needed to begin again.  Look at your own lives and think about the times when you have begun again or started something and all it took was a little bit of faith, confidence & courage.  Sure fear is there it’s always there but you have to step past it.  I read a book by Bruce Wilkinson called The Dream Giver and it was about a person who was afraid to leave his comfort zone but once he was given the big dream by the dream giver he stepped out past the fear and kept going.

So take that first step to begin again.  To pursue the dream, vision or that thing that has been burning in your heart for so long.  All it takes it a little Faith and a first step. 

So STEP and have a little faith that he will catch you and be your constant companion.

Remember "Now Faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen"

To begin again have FAITH & CONFIDENCE!  

STEP OUT!!!!

SPEAK UP!!!!


Who are you talking too?


I have been accused of talking too much.  In fact I have been told that that has been the hold up in my life because I share with people who don't have my best interest at heart.  I asked God why this is so when I believe that I share out of a genuine desire to help others.  I love to share with people what God is doing in my life because I want them to know that if God can do it for me he can do it for anybody or so I thought.  

Recently, I have begun to evaluate this and while I genuinely want to help people I believe I do it because I want confirmation or validation.  This recently stopped because I found what I already had in God but didn't know it.  When I said the light turned on, it turned on and God cleared out all the corners of my mind and showed me who I was in him.  So I don't need to be validated or approved by others.  God does that for me on a daily basis.

Who are you speaking to?  Are they people you feel are more mature in the faith but when you leave them you are empty, deflated or confused?  Well let me tell you something I know exactly how you feel.  I have walked this road and have found that I was drained, confused and topsy turvy in many things.  Then I made a decision to shut out all the voices around me and seek to hear only his voice and when I did this, stability and balance came, There was peace and quiet for once and now there is an intimacy with God that I have never experienced before.

Don't get me wrong I have always talked to Holy Spirit about everything in my life right down to what I should wear or eat cause when I say everything I mean everything. Jesus said that he is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.

So stop talking to people who are not listening or have hidden agendas in their heart or who think you are crazy because you believe against the grain or the norm of society.  Talk to God, commune with him.

He is waiting on you.

SPEAK UP, tell him what you think, how you feel,  he will only appreciate you more and love you more for trusting him.

TRUST ME HE IS LISTENING AND CONCERNED ABOUT EVERYTHING THAT CONCERNS YOU!

Blessings!