in HIS might

Ephesians 6:10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.

As we come to the end of our #60daysofpurpose we hope you have found strength in the daily posts and have begun a great habit in your life. Being strong in God is like being strong in the body – daily discipline is the only way to increase your strength. Rather than visiting the gym for a whole day every few months, you must do a small amount each day to see progress. It is the same in our walk with God. Building strength is not possible apart from ‘in the Lord’. Being found IN HIM is the most important part. The power we see is never our own, nor generated in our own strength – it is His. Please be encouraged to be strong IN the Lord. God Bless you as you follow Him.

Rebekah Prosser

 

Do not be overcome.

Romans 12:21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

God knows our tendency to hear and see evil on the earth and be overwhelmed by it. Whether it is a small thing that crowds our mind for the day or a huge world issue, we can feel helpless and overcome. However, knowing that God lives within us gives us an incredible capacity for good. The Bible talks about using our mind to think over all the good things (things that are pure, lovely and of good report). If we are meditating on Him and His goodness we cannot possibly succumb to the overwhelming feeling – He is Lord of all. And His goodness is more than able to overcome all evil.

Take a moment today to think of all the good God is doing. He is an overcoming God.

Rebekah Prosser

Doers, not hearers only

James 1:22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

As we look at the 60 days of purpose, this is a great reminder to search our hearts and let God speak to us about where He wants us to work on. During this time we have received many great blogs that give us insight into the heart of God. To attempt to do them all at one time would be foolish. However as we listen, God’s voice will guide us into the truth He wants us to concentrate on at this point in our journey. That way, we have a clear path to follow and know what we should be doing. Hearing is one thing, doing what God wants is the right thing. Everything else has the potential to be unnecessary pressure that leaves us feeling like we have failed.

So take the pressure down and enjoy hearing, doing and receiving all God has for us.

Our prayer: Create in me a clean heart oh Lord, that I may follow You in all Your ways. For, I know it is there that I will find Your purpose for my life and have great success.

Amen

Create in me a pure heart

Psalm 51:10, 15-17 NKJV
Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
15 O Lord, open my lips, And my mouth shall show forth Your praise. For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it;
You do not delight in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart—
These, O God, You will not despise.

I love the prayer of David to have a new heart created within. One washed from inequity and sin to be ‘whiter than snow’

Our sacrifice of offering and giving material/natural abilities is not enough to satisfy the desire of our God. For the sacrifice of praise is not something we make of ourself, but is an act of worship to God Almighty which we were created with and enabled to do by receiving His Spirit.

This sacrifice takes a surrender of our spirit and to be humbled in our heart towards Him. Worship is quenched when pride enters our heart.

Hope you get blessed by these thoughts

Ryan

Agreeing with God

Amos 3:3 Do two people walk hand in hand if they aren’t going to the same place? Or in another Bible version…

Amos 3:3 Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?

This verse talks about the need for a common purpose, a shared goal of two people on a journey together. As we do the journey of life with God, it’s a great reminder that to have a successful life with Him we need to continually make sure we are ‘on the same page.’

Agreeing with God is about allowing His truth and wisdom to affect every part of our life, our thinking our believing, and our actions, so that there’s a unity, a oneness, so that two can work and walk together.

The Bible tells us to let our relationship with God mould us into who we were created to be, not to be moulded by the world and its culture.

Rom 12:2 Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

Let’s practice agreeing with God! Letting go of the things that don’t fit into our new life with Him, and choosing to think the way His word teaches us to.

Let’s believe for transformation in our lives as we let God’s word change us from the inside out.

 

Pastor Jenny Fox.

The way to PEACE

Phil 4:6-7 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. (NLT)

Many of us have read and/or heard this verse before. However, it’s not a nice suggestion from God. He is telling us the way to peace. In a world spiralling without peace, we fall into the same trap when we forget to ‘tell God what we need’. Some Christians are hesitant, saying things like ‘God doesn’t want to hear your spiritual shopping list’. Although the sentiment is nice, it’s not Biblical! God says he wants to hear from us about everything – especially the things we can’t figure out (ie. the things producing the worry!).

Bring IT ALL to God, then we can walk in His peace. The longer we hold on to our stuff, thinking we are helping God out, the less space for His peace to guard our hearts.

Stop, right now! Take just a minute to talk to God, tell Him what you need.

Then you can move on with your day, knowing God’s peace is taking care of your life.

Go in peace!

Rebekah

Selah

Proverbs 19:21 AMP Many plans are in a man’s mind, but it is the Lord’s purpose for him that will stand. Selah

Selah means pause and take time to consider. Many times we can have plans for our lives that we think are important or valuable. With each of these we do need to take a moment to run our plans through the filter of God’s purpose. Because only His purpose that will stand the tests of time, fire and pressure.

So, let’s take a “Selah” moment. Lord, right now we take this time to give our whole lives to You again. Whatever does not fit into Your plan, please show us that we may change and redirect our lives towards your will and purpose. Amen

 

Owen Fox

In EVERYTHING

1 Thessalonians 5:18 Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. 

If you’re having a bit of a tough day today… Here’s a bit of encouragement for you. In everything, give thanks to God.

He didn’t ask us to give thanks because of the circumstances, but in the circumstances. You may not understand what is going on in the problem you are facing, but stopping for a moment to quietly thank God for who he is and for his purpose for your life will start to bring peace to your heart. He knows the end from the beginning and a choice to be thankful, despite your emotions is showing obedience to his ways. He is so faithful and is able to turn your situation around, as you fill your heart with thankfulness. If you’re looking for his will, this is a great part of it to fulfil.

Our prayer is that you will find the comfort that you are looking for. That the Holy Spirit will walk alongside you and be with you.

God Bless,

Hayden

Open, Honest and Constant

Luke 11:1 “…one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us how to pray”…

During our pre-marital counselling with Pastor Geoff, Bek and I were taught about the ‘pillars of marriage’… Communication being the key pillar. Without it, the marriage crumbles. For me, the biggest challenge of a great marriage is open, honest and constant communication. A good marriage cant be supported without good communication. As simple as it sounds, it’s often easier said than done.

The same is true for the relationship I have with God. I can’t really expect that I will grow closer to God without open, honest and constant communication with Him.

The verse in Luke reveals an interesting moment in the life of one of Jesus’ Disciples. After years of following Jesus, he did not ask ‘Jesus, teach us how to do miracles or preach’ but was simply inspired by true prayer. Jesus’ style of communication with God the Father was unique and vibrant, to the point where he felt compelled to ask how. Why? because the essential pillar to any relationship with God is connection through prayer. It is breath to the lungs of the soul and we cannot think that we are truly alive without it.

Our Prayer: May we be open, honest and constant in our communication with God. May the way we communicate with God be vibrant and fresh. And may it inspire others to live similarly.

Tim Bain

Hope

Psalm 31:24 (NIV) – Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord. 

Psalm 31:24 (MSG) – Be brave. Be strong. Don’t give up. Expect God to get here soon.

This month we have been focussing on ‘healed and whole’. Hope is such a big part of our wholeness. Children have no problem with hoping. Their expectations are untarnished by disappointments and hurts, they are ‘pre-programmed’ to hope and expect their hopes to be met (and quickly!).

It is only the ‘dirt’ and ‘grime’ of life that leaves us hopeless. We can no longer see the bright future ahead because the lens in which we view the future has been covered with dirt.

However, hoping in God is not like other hope. We are not hoping in something or someone who is able to disappoint. God is always on time, always there when we call. He is always ready to bring us our answer and grant us our hearts desires.

While we wait it is important for a healthy soul to continue in hope. We can confidently expect that any minute now, God is turning up with His amazing goodness!

Let’s believe for our hearts to be full of hope. Jesus is indeed the answer for everything we need – everything we hope for!

What are you looking at?

Luke 11:34 – The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole body also is full of light.

What are you looking at?

What are you looking for?

The answers to these questions are important ones – they shape our future.

Whatever we focus on, we internalise. Whatever we internalise, we act on. What ever we act on, we strengthen our ties to.

The things we focus on literally draw us towards them.

Many of us would know the scripture that states that, ‘without a vision, the people will perish.’

An equally true statement though, would be that, ‘with a vision of perishing, the people will perish.’

So in this month where we are focussing on the power of God to heal us and make us whole,

I encourage us all to look at Jesus, who has enough light for the whole word.

Allow his light to permeate our entire selves – the parts of our lives where we feel like we’re doing ok and don’t need him, the areas of that we are ashamed of and feel like hiding and the things in us that are only just beginning to come into fruition – let him at all of it.

If your eye is on the right thing, your whole body will be full of light.

But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. – 2 Corinthians 18

Peace and Love to you.

 

Nathan Woodward

‘we can be SURE’

Romans 8:28 “That’s why we can be so SURE that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good. (The Message) “

For a little word, SURE certainly means a lot:

1. free from doubt as to the reliability, character, action, etc., of something:

2. confident, as of something expected:

3. convinced, fully persuaded, or positive:

4. assured or certain beyond question:

5. worthy of confidence; reliable; stable:

With this definition in mind – I encourage you to read the scripture again.

WOW! What an amazing promise straight from the Word of God. How quickly do we let situations and circumstance dictate our response rather than trusting on the Word of God in every season. Trials, tribulations and challenges will come, but how comforting that we can walk through it with out heads held that little bit higher knowing that God’s got our back!

We pray that when your season is tougher than normal that you will rest. Rest in the promise that the Holy Spirit is walking with you and he is SURE to see the good in every aspect of life! Stand tall Metro.

Until next time – God bless.

Hayden

…If we don’t give up

Galatians 6:9 “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.”

It can be pretty easy to get fatigued doing good. When we aren’t seeing the results we think we should, or we get so accustomed to the results we are walking in, it is easy to tire of being consistent, speaking faith and being faithful in the little.

Our tiring of the mundane, hard work or our inability to see a harvest at this time can’t be an excuse for giving in though. Most of our significant triumphs in life, will come out of consistent small steps taken in faith, not out of reaction to what we can see in the natural. In a world that has sacrificed authenticity for instant gratification, consistency and faithfulness are some of our greatest tools.

You may feel fatigued doing the good God has called you to, but choose to be encouraged today, ‘ in due season, we will reap, if we don’t give up.’

We are believing: that you will be reminded of God’s faithfulness today and continue to be consistent.

 

Ps Jenny Fox

Unite my heart

Psalms 86:11 Teach me Your way, O LORD; I will walk in Your truth; Unite my heart to fear Your name.

Unite My heart? What does this mean?

When a child unites their hands, their eyes and their mind they manage to catch a ball. However, distractions come their way and they miss the catching the ball.

When King David was writing about his heart, he was largely speaking about his soul. So, he was saying unite my thoughts, my emotions and my will which make up his soul.

King David prays “Teach me Your way, oh Lord.” Then, as if two thoughts from heaven come to him. He says, “I will walk in Your truth” and “Unite my heart to reverence You.” It is there that he found healing and wholeness for his inner man. Here is a truth for us.

Our prayer: Unite my thoughts, intentions and emotions to give correct reverence in my life to You. Then, I will follow Your purpose for my life and serve this generation as David served his!

Faith for today.

John   11:17-44  

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             I love this passage where Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead. There is so much to be learnt from it. Lessons about our faith, God’s timing, and about walking into His Resurrection life.

So often we, like Mary and Martha, have our faith based in yesterday or tomorrow! They believed “if you had been here my brother would not have died” and “”I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day” but Hebrews 11 tells us NOW faith is…  We must put our faith in God’s today!

The next thing we see is that Jesus waited. He didn’t go to heal Lazarus before  he died – he didn’t even go immediately after he died. He waited 4 days. This was important as many of the Jews believed the spirit did not leave the body until the third day. He wanted to make sure every body believed it was too late!!! So often we try to place God in our timeframe. We give God a deadline and get upset if He doesn’t meet it. God, however, has an eternal perspective. Sometimes His ‘delays’ result in greater glory to God than what we could ever envisage.

I also love that this passage shows us that walking into God’s new life is a process!   Verse 44 says “The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.” Though he had received new life, Lazarus could not see where he was going and his walk was severely restricted by his grave clothes! Jesus gave the command for them to be removed. Sometimes we wonder why we find it so difficult to go on in God and to make progress – the vestiges of ‘death’ are still all around us! Take note: Jesus did not instruct Lazarus to remove his own grave clothes – that would have been impossible as his hands were bound. Lazarus needed the assistance of those around him to be set free! We are no different. Things like this month’s services, Dr Robi’s seminar, lift courses and small groups are all great ways in which others are given the opportunity to help us walk in the freedom  of God’s new life!

Pastor Rhonda Woodward

First things first

As we pursue lives of purpose, it’s easy to focus on what we need to do and who we need to connect with and forget the most important thing in any endeavour – our inner life!

In 1 Samuel 30:1-6, David is pursuing his dream but disaster intervenes – his first response is not action against the problem but he “encourages himself in the Lord his God”.

First things first!

Your emotional state matters in the pursuit of purpose!  Be strong and stay strong!

Fill your mind and heart with the promises of God! Let the Word find a resting place in your thinking; what it says about you and your future!

Ps Geoff Woodward

…set apart Christ as Lord

1 Peter 3:15 – “But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.”

This post comes to you as I sit overlooking the Great Australian Bight! We are loving some family holiday time on the coast – God’s creation is incredible. This scripture tells me that I have to take time to set things right in my heart. Before I open my mouth to speak, even before I explain my hope, I have to set my heart and prepare. Our days are filled with busyness and with interactions and with clock watching and with schedule. Above all of this, Christ must be Lord. Before we launch into our speeches and answering the questions of life, our heart must be settled in Christ’s control over all and his Lordship in our lives. It need not be complicated, rather simply set our hearts to Him and live out of that.

We are believing that weekend we will see many people set their hearts towards God. Dr Robi Sonderegger will be our guest across the weekend – you won’t want to miss out.

 

Ps Rebekah Prosser

Speedbumps and Stepping Stones

Psalm 84:5-7 “Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage. As they pass through the Valley of Baca, they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools. They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion.”

What’s the hardest thing you’ve ever done? You’re glad you did it aren’t you? For me, some of my most significant moments have been the trials… the tough times, the things I had never come across before and didn’t know how to tackle. There’s something special about a good old fashion challenge & taking the time to conquer it. It’s like something within us longs for challenge. A ‘soul craving’ so to speak.

Why?

When we wrestle with something bigger than us, we grow stronger. Strenegth doesn’t come without a challenge. Without a battle there is no hero, without a trial there is no victory, without conflict there is no progression.

Psalm 84 talks about righteous people going “from strength to strength”. This used to be my prayer for a long time before I actually understood what it meant. I used to think that God would bless me with no problems, that if I found something hard, God should deal with it for me. Meanwhile, I’d ask God to make me strong. I wanted to be the hero, without the battle. I wanted to have victory without a trial. I wanted muscles without resistance.

Sometimes the things we think are speed bumps are actually stepping stones. They are the very things we need in order to grow into a stronger person.

Our prayer: May our trust be in God alone. He is larger than our circumstance. And when we face the difficult, know that God is transforming us into his likeness.

Tim Bain

In it for the long haul

A life of purpose is not a 100 metre sprint, it’s a marathon!

There are three major differences between those two – pace, goals and celebration.

In a 100 metre race, it’s not about pace – it’s just flat-out from the start!  The only goal is the finish line. The celebration is only at the conclusion.

But for a marathoner, pace is important – there are times of fast and times of slower.  A good racer adjusts to both.

Goals for a marathoner are signposts along the way that measure his or her progress and are points for celebration (or stirring up!)

Can you adjust your pace to the race you’re running?  Have you got goals that help you measure your progress and are points of celebration?

A last word – Hebrews 12:1 “let us run with endurance the race that is set before us” (NKJV)

We’re in it for the long haul!

All things work together for good…

Rom 8:28 –” And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

We have had the privilege this week of spending time with our Adelaide family and Edge Conference. What a great blessing it has been!

I just love the way God works things out. He is constantly working (often when we can’t see or know that He is) with the intention of bringing good things our way. This verse is not excluding anyone – if you love Jesus, you’ve been called by Him, and therefore He works in all things for your good! How incredible is that?! The hope that this scripture brings, the reassurance that it gives, is so life giving and energising. I feel so privileged to live with this kind of hope. Having a revelation of this hope makes life worth living everyday, whether you are in the midst of great circumstances, or you wish you were not where you are right now. Jesus truly is the Hope of the world.

We are believing that in this month (Healed and Whole) we are going to see the Hope of Christ bring life and wholeness to so many lives. Let’s believe for our family and friends to discover the Hope that is in Jesus.

Ps Rebekah Prosser