Fresh Consecration

One of the ways that we can get a fresh enthusiasm or a fresh excitement about God, the bible, ministry, or prayer is simply by coming to the altar again and putting our lives back in that place of surrender. As the years roll by, we can so easily drift from that place of consecration. As we do, that fire and enthusiasm we have for living for Christ can get worn out. However, we need to keep that fire alive throughout our Christian walk. The poem below is one I have written on the idea of a fresh consecration. 

The altar has crumbled
Not ashes even remain
Cold, dry rocks mutter faint praise to a forgotten Majesty
Heartless prayers mumbled from mindless lips
Every rite a burden, inconvenient, unwelcome,
but needed.
To qualm guilty obligations and foreboding superstitions

But lightening flashes.
Across blackened heavens
But then a voice, bold with tears
A voice in our wilderness
bringing stormy rain from broken skies
Stinging our dry souls with a water so sweet,
We cannot but drink. All of it.
Our sleeping souls hear His voice from afar
Growing louder all the time
Our ears open wider
We hear again, we feel again
What was dead, rises.
Breath fills these dry bones
My heart is racing with an old love
His Spirit renews my soul
Christ Himself claims my all

To Him, I render my life again
To Him, I raise the cross again
I welcome Him that I resented
The habits so irksome
The ways discarded
Never so sweet did a pain become
When I make it my offering to Him.
Without paying a price we cheapen our Saviour
All only blessed I am spoilt, a child despised.
But obedient and broken
I am not rejected
Christ is the fount of all I am
He is at the depths of all my foundations
He is behind all my reasons.
I breathe for Him.
I live for Him, and for Him I die.
My highest pursuit, none other matching
Is Christ alone,
Nothing compares

The sweetest wine,
The softest oil
The calming balm
The scent of the Rose of Sharon
His presence is yours
Consecrated one
Living your all set apart to Him
Do it now.
Do it today.
Rebuild your broken altar
Bring again the wood for your fire
Now arrange your offering to Him,
Your time, your money, your mouth, your eyes, your hands, your feet
Give them all clean away.
Get them on the altar.
Let nothing remain ungiven.
See if fire will not now fall
Re-firing your soul with passion
A miracle, a sign, a new life, a new wine
A heart racing with new love
A clear, pure mind
Unheavy and floating your soul flies again
With worship, praise and song
Blessed be God
My soul has escaped from the snare,
The trap of the hunter.

________

I am going live on my Facebook page right now to talk about this poem, you can check in to watch the stream by clicking here.

Healing Relationships

1 Pet 3:7  Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honour to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered. 

The ancient concept behind sacrifice was simple.  If you did wrong, that action disturbed your relationship with God. The sacrifice you brought to the temple and offered by the ordained priest was the act that restored the relationship.  However, Jesus is saying that your gift to God is of no value until you have ‘gone to’ the person with whom you have fallen out. The sacrifice will not atone for you on any level. Forgiveness will not take effect until you are right with your neighbour. To be reconciled with God means I need to be reconciled to my brother.

Sacrifice for atonement must include confession of sin and penitence. This means rectifying any of the consequences sin has had.  The worshipper then comes to the place of worship with his sacrifice, places his hands on the sacrifice saying, ‘I entreat O Lord; I have sinned, I have done perversely, I have rebelled; I have committed…………..; but I return in penitence, and let this be for my covering’.

We cannot be right with God without being right with people.

Any breakdown in our relationships is caused by ‘them’ or us. All of us prefer to believe it’s always, ‘them’. However, surprising as it may seem, we can be very blind to our own failures. So when it is us, we need to go to the offended party, repent, apologise, make any restitution necessary and seek forgiveness.

There are steps in healing a breach;

 1. Understand what the offence is. Describe it to yourself.  

Arrange to meet with the person. Choose the right time and place to ask forgiveness.  The meeting should involve only those within the circle of offence; therefore it should be private, a phone call or a visit. The last resort should be a letter. Once the relationship is mended it should be forgotten. If a matter is still in writing it has the capacity to stir up old bitterness.

The time should be convenient for the other person. It should also indicate the level of seriousness you are attaching to the matter. Don’t ask your neighbour’s forgiveness while they’re mowing the lawn or preparing dinner. The time needs to be free from interruptions.

2. Choose the right wording.
The prodigal son worked out what he would say before he met his Father.  (Luke 15:18) Remember, though, right words, without the right attitude have little worth. Be as brief and clear as possible. Don’t go through all the details again. It doesn’t help. Don’t implicate or involve others in the confession.

Examples of  the wrong wording:
‘I was wrong, but you were too’.
‘I’m sorry, but it wasn’t all my fault’.
‘If I’ve been wrong, forgive me’.

Examples of the right wording:
‘I was wrong. I apologise and I’m doing …………… to straighten this out. Could you please forgive me’.

If the problem is definitely them; we go to them and seek to be reconciled.

In this case, even though they may have done wrong we still recognise our own faults in the situation, confess them and seek to be reconciled. Even though it is obvious to everyone the other person caused the problem, the pathway to reconciliation for a believer is to first recognise personal faults that have contributed to the situation.

Matthew 7:5  ‘First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.’ 

If they are unwilling to be reconciled we are at least able to depart with an untroubled conscience and a right relationship with God because we have done all we can.

Never underestimate the power of bitterness.  The Bible says it ‘defiles many’ (Heb 12:15). It’s contagious. It’s passed on from one generation to another, mother to daughter, father to son. It infects everyone else in relationship to the embittered person. It brings sickness at every level.

If only we could repent, apologise, and forgive, the blessing of God could come into our lives bringing joy and good health.

The Tree Of Life

Truth is a river flowing from the throne of God. Walking in this river, one truth leads to another. Truth brings life. Deception brings death. Truth is that tree of life which Adam abandoned in the garden, preferring the tree of knowledge. Knowledge on its own is not life. But when knowledge of the Scripture enters our spirit as revelation, it is life. It is this ‘life’ that heals sickness, casts out demons, and gives it’s possessor in dominion on this Earth.

There are two trees in Eden. The tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Adam gets distracted from the unlimited abundance available to him, and temptation draws him to the singular small thing God has forbidden. The devil draws Adam’s fascination to the forbidden tree. So, he eats from the tree of death.

Accumulating knowledge is not the gaining of ‘life’. LIFE comes from the Word of God. We receive a ‘knowing’ in our spirit, rather than knowledge in the mind. The ‘tree of life’ is the Word and the Spirit.

John 6:63 The words that I speak to you are Spirit, and they are life.

All the branches of the Kingdom of God spring from this tree. Salvation, new life, freedom, healing, and prosperity flow from this tree.

Revelation 2:7 To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.”’

Every day we get to eat from this tree of life. When we feed on the Word of God, our spirit receives revelation. This is a transforming power, changing us into the image of Christ. Living in the Word of God brings us faith and the power to overcome. It is overcomers who get to eat from this tree.

Thanks for reading this week! If you’d like to hear more from me, feel free to check out my website. Otherwise, swing by one of our services this weekend. We would love to meet you!