God’s creative word

When Jesus commissioned the disciples He sent them out and "gave them authority". The Gospel accounts, and especially the book of Acts record the ministry of Jesus and of the disciples as they moved in authority, empowered by the Holy Spirit.

Where did the authority of Jesus come from?

In essence all legitimate authority proceeds from God the Father.
Jesus submitted to the will of the Father, as a result His activities reflect the Father's will.
The Holy Spirit is also in submission to the will of the Father; At creation the Father spoke, the Spirit created. 
The Father is not more powerful than God the Son or God the Holy Spirit. They are not coerced or subjugated in anyway. They exist in unity and choose to submit one to the other.

God the Son submits to God the Father, and the Father gives authority to the Son. Read Phil 2.
The authority of God is transmitted through His word. God speaks...Jesus authority comes from God the Father - Jesus fostered an intimacy, and submissiveness to God's will. That will is transmitted through God speaking and those words carry authority.

Where did the Power of Jesus come from?

A significant event in which authority was transmitted was the baptism of Jesus: 

"This is my beloved Son in whom I am pleased. Listen to Him"

There were many witnesses to God the Father speaking on behalf of His Son at the river that day. All of them were authorized to act in obedience to Jesus word as if God the Father had spoken.
Authority was delegated...everyone who heard that voice was pointed to Jesus as God the Father's delegated authority...including the Holy Spirit.

Prior to that the HS has been orchestrating events and preparing the scene, now the Holy Spirit is authorized to act in power at the word of Jesus. 

Think about how authority and power now flows through Jesus. Jesus spends time in intimate fellowship with the Father who speaks and reveals His will. Jesus acts and speaks in accordance with the Father's will, and Holy Spirit backs Jesus up with power.

We would consider all of the elements of this dynamic process part of our prayer life and prayer ministry. From this we take two key prayer positions...

1. Prayer of submission toward the Father as revealed through Jesus - receiving His word and authority
2. Prayer of proclamation from the position of Jesus authority, endorsed by the Holy Spirit's power

Background: Creation is made from God’s words…

• In the beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth…God said “Let there be…”
• Spiritual and Physical world are both constructed from God's word
• The point of overlap of both realms is words. Things can be spoken in the spiritual realm which effect the physical, and words spoken in the physical can carry a spiritual authority. But must originate in God's word to be legitimate.

The hebrew word Davar mean "word" it also means "a thing". It comes from the understanding that God created everything by His words. Things are made from words. 

Hebrews 11:3 By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.

• God’s words not a vibration of air, precede the existence of air. It's the stuff of creation
• God cannot lie – His word make reality exist
• The implications are when He speaks reality is effected. God speaks, God does

Romans 4:17 Calls things that don’t exist as though they did.

God uses the perfect tense in addressing Abraham. “I have made you the father…”

The Holy Spirit is the "doer", the one who exercises creative power 

At creation: Father Spoke, HS made real – hovering over the deep (brooding)

• Word became flesh (HS will over shadow you). Angel delivered the word of God, HS responded with a creative act.
• Jesus “does what He see Father doing” – Jesus follows the Father's will, HS works, provides the power
  • “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word…”
• Jesus speaks the creative word of God– HS acts
  • There are many example of Jesus “healing with a word”

Our words

• Words – language an important part of the “image of God”
• Our capacity to hear and speak God’s creative word
• Judgment at Babel – words stripped of power
• Pentecost – tongues of fire. Words empowered again

1 Peter 3:9 “repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called…”

Imagine everything you spoke became real and released power. What would the effect of your words be?
Do we really believe our words carry power? When we speak without considering what we are saying we are acknowledging that we do not believe our words matter. We doubt the power of our own words. 

Matthew 5:22 “whoever says fool will be in danger of hell fire”

Jesus takes words very seriously.

• Proverbs 18:21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit
• James 3:9-12 Out of the same mouth proceeds blessings and curses…no spring yields both salt and fresh” 
• We must have faith in the power of our own words. Take reasonability for what we speak. Little wonder our prayer and proclamation becomes powerless if we disbelieve ourselves don't believe the power of what we say.

Very important to realise the relationship between our words and HS activity…we partake of the ministry of Jesus to the Father, empowered by the HS. Jesus (the word)

The Holy Spirit expects us to speak in the name of Jesus with God's for Him to act creatively on.

Notice the context of a grieved Holy Spirit. The miss-use or abuse of words.

Ephesians 4

Therefore, putting away lying, “Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,” for we are members of one another...Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.

And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.

 

lupeó: to distress, to grieve

Cognate: 3076 lypéō (from 3077 /lýpē, "deep grief") – to experience deep, emotional pain (sadness), i.e. severe sorrow (grief). 3076 (lypéō) is very intense and hence even used of the pain of childbirth (see Gen 3:16, LXX). See 3077 (lypē).

Our conduct, especially our words are crucial…

Exercise:

• Approach the Father in "the name of Jesus" and submit to His will.
• Repent and renounce negative words spoken, especially any that come to mind
• Ask the Father to speak, and release a blessing through you.
• Speak the blessing over others as they come to mind
• Especially bless those who may have wronged you!

Will You not revive us again, That Your people may rejoice in You?
Show us Your mercy, Lord, And grant us Your salvation.

Psalm 85:6-7 

O Lord, I have heard Your speech and was afraid;
O Lord, revive Your work in the midst of the years!
In the midst of the years make it known;
In wrath remember mercy.

Habakkuk 3:2

It is time for intentional intercession and prayer for church and community

• Forgiveness for the unintentional sins of the people
• Many prodigals living in a far country
• Many sheep wandering in the wilderness

Our praying must be specific

• Need to keep crying for souls
• Earnest specific prayer for:
  • Pastors and elders and ministry leaders
  • The spiritual and physical needs in the congregation
  • Hope community trust targets
  • Outreach endeavors into North Canterbury
  • Rangiora High School pupils and teachers
  • Outreach into the NC schools
     
• Pray that we will not be afraid to share our faith, but will boldly proclaim the Lord Jesus Christ and His longing for people to come to Him and follow Him all their lives. Ask God to fill us with the faith to speak what He is saying; not to fear the world, the flesh or the devil, but to overcome through the power of the Holy Spirit and the word of our testimony (that is, what we confess).
• Pray for all who are seeking God and whose hearts are crying out for a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit - bringing revival, renewed power, enthusiam for God and what He is doing and wants to do in the world today; Church growth; an increase in righteousness, holiness, love for God and other people; and many, many more people coming onto the Kingdom of God.

Consider the work of God;
For who can make straight what He has made crooked?

Ecclesiastes 7:13

I love nature. Mountains, the bush, wilderness areas, gnarly old trees. All of it. It is messy but so beautiful.
God made all this, He created exactly that way -  It is an ordered chaos, He made it all.

I look around the room I am sitting in - you know what I see? 

Straight lines

People love straight lines. Obsessed with them even. It is like everything we do and make is made from straight lines.
I go to an art museum and admire abstract paintings - imprisoned in square frames...our world is made from straight lines.

God’s nature is very different from ours...the dimensions we inhabit are a creation of His, the rules and limits we follow just don't apply to Him.

It is little wonder He will not comply with my nice straight lines. Creation is the more majestic for it. 
God is unconstrained, He is wild, and on the loose, untamable. 

What we should expect when relating to Him?

He is the creator, there is purpose...
Part of that purpose is to get to a destination, but most of it is about the journey and our encounter with God along the way. This is the one who "walked in the cool of the evening" in the garden. He takes pleasure from His work, His creation. That includes us.
We find before too long that His way is rather different from ours...

I often find I Prepare for one way, but God takes me another.
He didn't change His mind, but I make the mistake of drawing a line between the few dots I see. I want to walk in a straight line from here to there. 
Well, those lines were of my creation, a product of my limits in understanding and nature.

Acts 17:24-28. The purpose of our limits is so we encounter God, and walk with Him

“God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being"

As we get to know Him, and seek to understand His will for our lives our human-ness immediately draws a straight line from here to there.  We must understand that God rarely draws a straight line in our lives. He delights to create from chaos.

Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.

There is a difference between the lamp of God and the Light of God. God give vision and make promises, milestones to aspire to. That is the light to your path. It is distant.

But it is rarely a straight line to get there...the lamp is required to illuminate the next step. 
That is where we find Him. In the intimate place of our daily decisions, our daily walk.

Scripture tells us how to walk with God…

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths.

Proverbs 3:5-6

Walking this way requires trust. It doesn't discount understanding but simply acknowledges we cannot lean on it. Why? Our understanding is always incomplete, dependent on straight lines. 

Expect God to direct you and trust His hand and ability to use each and every situation

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

Romans 8:28

Our preoccupation with straightness can cause us to overlook where He may be working…,

So this is what I do, this is how my plans look now:

Plan B: This is my planing, based on what I understand. Nice and tidy.

Plan A: God interrupts plan B!

Up-coming mission trip to Mandritsara Madagascar.

Since 2006 Trust Teams visiting Mandritsara have provided the HVM Mission with phone and wireless communication systems.

On the 2006 mission a 120 line internal phone (PBX) system was installed and commissioned which replaced the older 40 line system adding greater capacity. 40 telephone to support the increase in capacity were also provided. Along with this improvement a new hospital Salcom Technologies pocket paging system was also installed and commissioned, including 40 pagers, plus the installation of the FM broadcast transmitter for the Good News Radio station.

In 2009, the Team build a steel lattice tower for the Radio station’s new site located in the township, as well as providing additional spare parts for the telephone system, more phones and pagers.

After 11 years of operation it has become necessary to replace the 2006 phone system with a later model, Charles’s main focus of his upcoming trip in late June to early July will be to commission the replacement unit which is now in Madagascar on route to Mandritsara. Also he will be servicing the paging system and following up on any issues arising from the installation of solar power for EBN school and Good News Radio station, installed by the Trust’s Team of Wayne Gath and Samuel Ward.

Project Hospital Solar Power project scheduled for installation and commission in 2018

One other important tasks which Charles will undertake will be to, provide a Scope of Works and materials for the installation and commissioning of a solar power supply at the HVM hospital. The benefits of providing a suitable solar solution cannot be under estimated, with the immediate benefits translating to, a continuous and secure supply along with heavily reduced costs associated with diesel generation.

At this time we wish to acknowledge the immense support we have received from a wide supporter base. To those who have gifted phone, pager WEB design expertise and associated tools and hardware and the many of you that have provided Prayer support and financial assistance for this third world mission. Thank you all

News - Click HERE

Kintsukuroi is a ancient art of repairing broken pottery with gold.

These repaired pieces became more valuable than when they were new.

The artist would carefully take the pottery and piece by piece mend them together and join the seams between the fractures and breaks with gold, Collectors became so enamored with the new art that some were accused of deliberately smashing valuable pottery so it could be repaired with the gold seams of kintsugi.

Kintsukuroi means ‘to repair with gold’ in Japanese, and understanding that the piece is the more beautiful for having been broken.

Such restoration creates a gorgeous piece of art and makes a philosophical statement as well. Kintsukuroi asserts that breakage and repair is part of the unique history of an object, rather than something to deny or disguise.

Each of us needs more golden repair in our lives, because we so often hide our brokenness. A friend hurts us deeply, and we retreat inside ourselves. We lose a job or suffer a pay cut, and pretend like everything is really okay. A spouse abuses us, but we never speak up. We sense that we have a drinking problem, but feel too embarrassed to ask for help. A marriage begins with intimacy and anticipation, and ends with alienation and anger. We can all probably add many more of our own life breakages to the list.

In Acts, Paul traveled to Ephesus in Asia Minor – He found twelve disciples there, and asked them if they had received the Holy Spirit when they became believers. They replied, “We’ve not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” (Acts 19:2)

These disciples might not be broken, but they clearly have some cracks. Not only had they not received the Holy Spirit, they didn’t even know that it existed!

Paul was perplexed. He asked, “What baptism did you receive, then?” They answered, “John’s baptism.” Paul then understood that they needed some golden repair, some “kintsukuroi” (Acts 19:3)

The disciples were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus, and when Paul laid hands on them the Holy Spirit entered them. Immediately, they spoke in tongues and prophesied, just like the first Christians on the day of Pentecost. (Acts 19:6)

The gift of the Holy Spirit – that’s pure gold! Suddenly, the gaps in the lives of these disciples were filled, and they were made whole as disciples of Jesus. But notice that there was no attempt to deny or disguise their deficiencies.

Instead, God filled their cracks with the gifts of the Holy Spirit, making them stronger and more beautiful in the broken places. That’s golden repair.

It reminds me of the song by Bill Gaither that went:

Something beautiful, something good
All my confusion He understood
All I had to offer Him was brokenness and strife
But he made something beautiful of my life

If there ever were dreams
That were lofty and noble
They were my dreams at the start
And hope for life's best were the hopes
That I harbor down deep in my heart
But my dreams turned to ashes
And my castles all crumbled, my fortune turned to loss
So I wrapped it all in the rags of life
And laid it at the cross.

May our Lord Jesus Christ make something beautiful out of the brokenness of your life.

Blessings

Jan

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
For You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

Psalm 23:4

Fear is a funny thing.
It can drive us to do things or act in ways which are harmful and destructive, yet on the other hand keep us from danger, like prevent us stepping to close to cliff edges or in front of busses, thus saving us. It is fear which keeps us alive much of the time.
There are two edges to this sword.

The Psalmist acknowledges the inevitable, the shadow of death, something to be feared. Dangers and threats are part of life as is our natural reaction to fear these dangers. Acknowledging the threat and being afraid in a situation is not wrong, it is in itself a form of truth.

However there is a distinction to be made;

"I will fear no evil, for You are with me"
 

What does your fear tell you about the faithfulness of God? Is fear telling you the truth or lying to you?

Recently I underwent a surgical procedure to remove a lump behind my jaw.
Leading up I was afraid - very afraid. I have always had a fear of hospitals and doctors, dentists and anyone who wanted to poke me with sharp metal objects, and the dark question in the back of my mind was "is this the beginning of the end?"

There were all kinds of scary possible scenarios: the chemicals could kill me, it could be cancer, I may be paralyzed on that side of my face. Fear was telling the truth about the reality of danger.
However I was not afraid that God had abandoned me, that would be a lie.  Afraid as I was, the knowledge of God's faithful presence gave me courage to overcome fear. In fact it was in this time His presence became known in a very special way...

"Your rod and Your staff they comfort me"

A rod or staff is an object that is held in the hand and used for a purpose - to ward off danger and help support the weight of a weary traveler. In season of fear and danger God uses what is in His hands as a rod and staff. I believe at times this is His people. He is present through us. Though acts of kindness and love, through prayer.

I knew many of you in our church family had committed to pray as I went under the knife, and let me tell you I had such peace and assurance as I went into theater. The prayers of you all were tangible, I was carried by them. In God's hands you were a staff when I really needed one.
All the tests have come back clear and surgery successful, thank you family for your love, support and prayers.

Last Sunday Esther brought a word which was so seasonal for me and I know has blessed many of you also. I would like to quote it here.

Love and blessings,

~Johno

==

"I want to calm the storms in lives today. Anxiety is not of me.
Whatever the circumstances My people face today there is no call to be anxious.
Faith touches every situation with peace and triumphs over every problem.
You may not understand what I am doing but I know what is best for you and what will develop your character and build you up to be strong for these days are difficult and getting worse.
So rest in Me for I am strong enough to carry you through"

Lowliness - Greek word - tapeinophrosune, Phonetic Spelling - tap-i-nof-ros-oo'-nay - meaning humble in attitude, behavior, or spirit; meek.

In Ephesians 4:2-3, Paul writes: "With all lowliness and meekness, with long suffering, forbearing one another in love; Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace."
Unity in church is critical (our unity with Christ and each other) By showing lowliness we build unity. The Greek tapeinophrosune (5012) pictures modesty, humility, and lowliness of mind, having a humble opinion of oneself, a deep sense of one's littleness.

Lets think about that for a second.

It's not a false humility such as, "Oh shucks, I'm not all that great," but rather a deep sense of how little we really are.

God is building a body, a temple. He has reconciled Jews and Gentiles to Himself in Christ.

The oneness of believers in Christ is already a spiritual reality.Our responsibility is to guard, protect, and preserve the unity.

To do this, we must understand this important fact, called the Grace of Unity (Ephesians 4:1-3)

Unity is not uniformity. - Unity comes from within and is a spiritual grace, while conformity is the result of pressure from the world around and outside us.

I we are going to preserve the “unity of the Spirit,” we must possess the necessary Christian graces, and there are six of them listed below...

1. Lowliness or humility (putting Christ first, others second, and self last) - (Read - Romans 12:3 - For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.)

2. Meekness (not weakness) - It is power under control - Read - (Matthew 11:29 - Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.)

3. Long suffering (long - tempered) The ability to endure discomfort without fighting back

4. Forbearance (a grace that cannot be experienced apart from love. (Read - 1 Corinthians 13:4 - Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;)

5. Endeavor (“being eager to maintain, or guard, the unity of the Spirit”) The spiritual unity of a home, a marriage, or a church is the responsibility of each person involved, and the job never ends.

6. The final grace is peace “the bond of peace”

   1. (Read -  James 3:13-4:10) This is the most vivid picture of war and peace in the New Testament

   2. Note: The reason for war on the outside is war on the inside If a believer cannot have a peaceable relationship with God, he cannot have one with other believers.

7. When “the peace of God” rules in our hearts, then we build unity (Read - Colossians 3:15 - And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.)

On this wonderful night of prayer we will have a dedicated service to worship our Lord and pray for our world, our country and our community.

If you have a heart for the things of God and the saving of the lost in our community, come join us.

The Theme of the Night will be JESUS - The bread of life.

We will have 6 Stations in the auditorium where you can pray,  be quiet  or just thank the Lord for the following.

1) Our World - 2) Our Country - 3) North Canterbury - 4) Our Community - 5) Our Church - 6) Your own life, at the cross.

Me and the saving grace of our Lord Jesus