Tuesday, June 30, 2009

This is where I sit and work from


Hi all,


Just wanted you all to see where I find myself on a chilly morning where I sit and write the articles for this blog.


I must say that our kitchen is the warmest part of the house in the mornings, during winter time. Also, the lovely breakfast table you see here has a whole lot of coffee beans under the glass and when this place is nice and neat and tidy, it is a pleasure to sit hear and work.


So... In future, when you read this blog, you can come back here to this post and see where I work from.


Anyway... I have to run... got some friends to visit in about 10 minutes.....


See you all tomorrow,


Blessings and much love,


Rory

How to open doors

Hi again everyone,

Late last night at around 11:30 pm, I was still up and awake and so I decided to go into the kitchen to make myself an almost midnight snack....
Pssst, don't tell anyone....

I also thought that I heard our dog outside, scratching at the door to come in. I instinctively reached for the key in the door to unlock it so that I could open it. To my dismay, the key would not turn in the lock after I tried it a few times. I'd noticed over the last 2 weeks that the lock was a bit sticky while trying to unlock the door, but was a bit lazy to do a bit of house maintenance during that time.
I then began a frustrating procedure of trying to get the key back in the lock and unlocking the door. It seemed impossible.
A little voice in my head said, "Don't force it, or you will end up breaking it in the lock". After 10 more minutes of force... which didn't do the old key any good, I gave up with the key stuck in the key hole.
I then went to bed thinking about how on earth we were going to get the door open in the morning, because Cath needed to get the car out in order to take Kelly, our daughter, to work. Our kitchen door leads to our garage where Cath's car is parked at night time.
I was up with a jolt when I heard Cath get up to start the day at 7 am. I bolted out of bed and ran to the kitchen to try and get the key to work in the lock.
I sent up a silent prayer to ask the Lord for help.... I've done this in the past and God has helped me every time with amazing practical ways of doing things that enabled me to find the solutions.
Instantly, the reply came back....
"Pull the key out, get some olive oil, and dip the front part of the key in the oil and put it back in the lock and jiggle it around and it will work". Noooo.... really..... God, you mean it is a simple as that....
Guess what, It worked !! and straight away too. The lock clicked and I was able to open the door. By the way... "Happy" our dog, was not outside all night long scratching at the door to come in. She was in her usual spot, on Matthew's bed, sleeping. I must have been hearing things again.......
"I hear voices...... but I don't see dead people.... " Remember that strange movie, about the kid who saw dead people?
Back to my story...
So... this morning I felt so good about my God inspired efforts, that I sat down and began to think about the art of opening doors and decided to write a little article to you all about how the whole door opening process works for me. I mean the opening of doors of oportunity into your destiny and purpose.
So here goes.....
In Isaiah 45:1 It says.....
"Thus says the LORD to His anointed, To Cyrus, whose right hand I have held— To subdue nations before him And loose the armor of kings, To open before him the double doors, So that the gates will not be shut....
God is the opener of doors, this we know, but I believe that we are the ones who need to do the knocking and the unlocking. There is nothing wrong with knocking and unlocking a door. This is our part, then God does His part.
Also in Matthew 16:19 Jesus told Peter that He was giving him the keys of the Kingdom. With those keys, Peter would be able to do certain things within the framework of Kingdom dynamics that would cause things to happen and other things to not happen.
Keys are important. The bible has a lot to say about keys.
Keys are a symbol of :
  • Authority
  • Access to certain places
  • The ability to close and keep things closed
  • Revelation knowledge that opens up a Kingdom benefit to the one who has understanding of what is being revealed.
I have just a few more things to add here......
  • Keys are also a symbol of relationships. Every door that needs to be opened to give us access to success, purpose and our destiny, will involve people. Our job is to keep the key of relationships well oiled. Without the oil, rust will set in, and the locks will not work when we really need them to.
  • Another symbol of the key is our talent or gifting...
    Proverbs 18:16 says, "A man's gift makes room for him, And brings him before great men."
The word, "Makes room" is the greek word, Raw-Khab, which means, "to make open wide".
Our gift, if well oiled (stirred up and practiced), and if used properly, for the right reasons, will enable us to have doors open for us, give us access to success and purpose, so that we can fulfill what we were destined for.
It is time to get the oil out again and begin to apply it to our relationships and to our giftings so that we can be a blessing to others. Oil is a symbol of our passion for God and for people. When we pursue our passion and not all the other things, then doors will open. Passion means that we will put the effort in to reap the rewards in the long run.
I hope this little thought today has helped you in some way.
How about leaving some comments about this and also telling your friends about this blog.
Hope to hear from you all out there some time soon.
Big time blessings to you all,
Much love,
Rory

Monday, June 29, 2009

Finding wisdom in any circumstance

Have you ever encountered a situation where you just didn't know what to do next or how to get out of something you fell into?

The first thing you need is this.....

You need to know that it is not God's will for you to suffer. Many people think that somehow their suffering is because the Lord is trying to teach them something. Sometimes people think that God is allowing the situation for some mysterious reason, so that they can get closer to God.

Whatever the situation is, or the suffering you are experiencing, God is not in heaven getting pleasure out of your battles and times of suffering.

In the book of James 5:13 it says, "Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray.

I'm sure that many of you who are reading this post will agree with me that prayer is a way in which we receive answers to things we are needing change in. Prayer is also a way in which we receive strategies to overcome things. In the scripture quoted above, James the leader of the Jerusalem church, encouraged those who were suffering to pray. If it was God's will for a person to suffer or He gets some kind of pleasure out of it, why would He encourage us to pray about it. When we pray about an area in which we are suffering, we position ourselves to receive strategies, answers, comfort and the power to change the situation.

One of the numerous examples I can give you from the bible, is the story of Paul and Silas in Acts 16:23-30 where they had been thrown into jail because of something that they had done which was right in the sight of the Lord, but not in the sight of man. In the story they found themselves down in a dark dungeon with their feet fastened in the stocks, with a bunch of magistrates who wanted to see the end of them.

The first thing the bible says they did was turn their eyes towards heaven and to pray and also sing hymns to God. For some of you who think the singing of hymns is over, I have news for you....
I'm sure they decided to press in and continue with this. The singing of hymns and prayer, positions us in the realm of faith and to enable us to receive something from the Lord.

If you read on, it was around midnight that they were suddenly visited by a God-earthquake. This earthquake came and shook the prison foundations, opened every door and loosed everyone's chains. This was not really a natural earthquake, but one which was sent by the Lord Himself, in response to His servants' prayers and worship, with the purpose of setting them free and changing their situation from suffering to victory.

I believe that there is a kind of suffering that we can never avoid. These are what I call, "The sufferings of Christ" or "The fellowship of His sufferings". These sufferings are when we identify with Christ and His Kingdom though righteousness which causes the enemy to rise up against us through people. Persecution, ridicule, rejection, slander and the like, are all a part of the "Fellowship of His sufferings".

Sickness, fear, pain, defeat, poverty and depression are not, I repeat, not the "Fellowship of His sufferings". These are things that Jesus paid the full price for at the time of His crucifixion. When he was whipped to pieces, this dealt with sickness, pain and infermity - see Isaiah 53:4 onwards.

Receiving wisdom in any situation or circumstance, is a part of being a child of God. We don't grow because of a situation or circumstance. We grow because of how we react to that situation or circumstance. We don't learn how to suffer more in the situation, we learn how to endure and overcome the temptation to quit during that time.

Trials and tests come from two different places.

A trial comes from the enemy, and tests come from God.

The trying of our faith is where the enemy is putting pressure on us to quit believing the Lord and give up on His deliverance.

God tests our hearts through His word. His word is the mirror we look into when we need our heart's attitude sorted out. Going through suffering is not how God changes our attitude, but how we change our response to that circumstance.

God has laid out His methods and way in which He wants us to serve Him in His word. We are meant to live in constant communion and fellowship with Him, in order for us to know what to do next in any situation or circumstance.

The way in which we receive the strategies and answers for the suffering or circumstance we find ourselves in, is to position ourselves firstly in what we believe about the Lord. We must believe that He is good, all the time.

Next, we must believe that He is more than willing to give us the answers to the problem or a strategy to get us out or thourgh a situation.

Then we must pray, expecting to receive those answers, and then they will come.

If there is anyone our there who is suffering, your job is to position yourself through prayer and worship. Once positioned, you will be in a place to receive your answer or strategy.

This answer may even be a conviction about sin. It may be a word from God which will indicate something which you are required to do, in order for your situation to change. It could be anything.

Hope this is of some help to someone out there.

Blessings to you all,

Rory