Half way

So this is the half way through the journey, 4 months gone, 4 more to go (excluding training and debrief). So this is the update on Fred blog, my attempt to try and share what has been happening to me and not just what has been happening on the journey. So find below is a few stories/ranting/realisations, major and minor, profound and funny.

Identity

Thank God for establishing more and more of my identity in Him. And that He is still imparting in me more and more. I am a Son of God. I am His beloved. I am in right standing before God through Jesus Christ that died on the cross. I am alive because I was raised with Jesus from the dead and seated at the right hand of God (Eff 2:6). I am no longer a slave, but adopted in His family, a co-heir of Christ (Rom8:15-17). I am called to bring the kingdom of heaven to earth since I was made king and priest on earth by the blood of Jesus (Rev 5:9-10)

Love, Love, Love

God is taking me on a bit of a journey of love and revelation about Himself. How everything ties back to love, how the law, the gospel, my identity, living in submission it is all about His great love for us and that nothing is separate from His love. God keeps pointing out areas in my life where I have yet to allow His love to go or shinning light on areas that I did not even know was in the dark or even existed. It is scary and it is leaving me with so much questions along the lines of “how is this going to work practically?” or “It is easy to not have this now and easy to release that thing/needs while on the journey, but what if I am back home, how will it look?” In the end the answer is the same “Just allow me to love you and it will all be ok”. Not the clear explaining answer I was looking for. The big problem is my mind that get in the way and wants to understand, but it is not about understanding it is about believing, faith and most important LOVE. My mind says things should work from knowledge to understanding to love ,but Phil 1:9-11 (especially clear in the NLT) tells me that my mind have it the wrong way round, much like Grace, it is a bit contradicting to human nature. I am also challenged about what it means to love your “brothers” and that it is only possible through the love of the Father in you. And by just how much God loves us, there is just no place left for pride or doing anything out of your own power. Did you know God LOVES you, yes you. He LOVES us very very much, so much that I don't have the words to explain how much so I will close with this. God LOVES all of us lots and lots and lots....

The revelation of love still went on for a bit and ended in His grace for us. Grace is based in Gods true love for us, if we don't begin to understand or experience a bit of God's love chances are that we will also not understand and experience Grace. We will always fall back into works and live as if under the Law, and in this Gal 2:20-3:5 becomes really alive and foolish is what we are. But to return to God's love, it was just amazing to experience it in Santa Martha, while we were ministering to people and doing the parks evangelism, how it is the fact that God loves people that brings the breakthrough in their lives and that while God was just imparting His words in me, via the Holy Spirit, to give to the people I was speaking too that He was also speaking to me at the same moment. It made me stand back in wonder of His love for people.

God is still journeying with me on how his love looks practical, the challenge of 1 Cor 13 if you get stuck in what it really says, and that it is applicable to all your “brothers and sisters” and not just a section to be dusted of when someone gets married

Truth and meaning of words

I was on a journey of what does the Gospel really say, what is the difference between Grace and Mercy and what does the words like salvation, righteousness, faith, ect really mean and how it should be used. Also the importance of the words we use when we speak and what we are trying to communicate is important since if we use the wrong words in the wrong context it completely changes your message and confuse people even if you think you are saying the right thing.

David & Daniel

My eyes have also been opened to the prophetic part of David, that he was not only just king, poet and “a man after God's own hart”, but that he was also a prophet and that he really stood in relationship with God and understood some of God's heart. But how much more should we that have the Holy Spirit of God living in us that creates an open channel to God, through Jesus, have the same understanding and relationship with the Father? It is challenging. The same theme hit me in Daniel, he was in deep relationship with God and it was spoken over him 3 times that he was “a man highly esteemed” (Dan 9:13, 10:11, 10:19) Can I say that about my relationship with God?

Pride

My journey of pride really kicked in while God was revealing His love for me, who am I to not love people (that is what indifference is), to look at them with judgement, to do what I want when I say I am are serving a God that is infinite in His love, perfect in His holiness, the only one worthy of glory, praise and honour. God is dealing with my pride my revealing more of Himself to me and making me stand back in wonder going “mm ok, You BIG, me small”. At the same time there is also a revelation of what resurrected Jesus looks like. So I got stuck into the book of Revelations, since in it so much is revealed about God and Jesus, but it is as if I am now for the first time only understanding what it means for me in a deep set, laying down of foundations of the Truth of the revelation and not some wishy washy superficial understanding of it. And do yourselves a favour and just spend some time in Rev 4&5 on who God is and who Jesus is and what He did for us and where it places us right now here on earth. All of it puts who we are into a bit of perspective. And what it means to be humble, Philippians 2 is such a great chapter on it, so also is Mark 10:13-45 / Mat 19:13-20:28

Elementary my dear Watson

I came to a point where it is time for me to move away from living on milk and being infants in our understanding of truth and that it is time for some solid food. Read Heb 5:11-6:3 and what Heb 6:1-2 says is the elementary doctrine of Christ.

1. Repentance from acts that lead to death and of faith in God.

2. Instructions about baptisms (see the plural, there are more than 1 kind).

3. The laying on of hands

4. The resurrection of the dead

5. and eternal judgement

Do you have a good understanding of these? Can you back it by scripture?

Spiritual warfare

I had a very intense time of revelation of sin and disobedience, that there is consciences for it, looking at the lives of Saul and David in 1&2 Samuel it is quite scary to see what happened. And even though we are under the new covenant of Jesus and although Grace is so amazing, it does not give us licence to do what we want. This let me to revelations of spiritual warfare and how sin and disobedience opens door for attack and that we need to get rid of those things that is revealed to us. There was also a lot more on that but writing it down it might be misunderstood so I rather not.

So many other things:

• journey of intercession and dreams

• Hearing God voice more and more

• discernment and false prophets

• that the story of God told throughout the bible is an amazing story

• playing with kids

• some leadership lessons

• awe inspiring scenery and views

   

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