submit or not?

Peter was an amazing apostle - a Man who knew Jesus - a Man who was named by Jesus as THE ROCK - what an awesome name - THE ROCK!!

Jesus said of Peter - "Upon this ROCK I will build my church" what ROCK was this? The very rock when Peter declared - "You (Jesus) are the Messiah - My Lord and My God".

This was the same Peter who went on the deny Jesus three times - the same Peter who saw Jesus' look as the rooster crowed three times - the same Peter who went out weeping uncontrollably because of his denial - the same Peter who almost broke a speed record getting to the tomb to see if Jesus had indeed risen - the same Peter who was interrogated by Jesus three times with the question "Do you love me Peter?"

One time you denied me Peter - Two times you denied me Peter - Three times you denied me Peter.
One time do you love me Peter? - Two times do you love me Peter? - Three times do you love me Peter?

Can you just imagine Peter:-

Don't count me out just yet Lord - I Love you Lord - I know I denied you but please don't count me out - I know I am weak - I know I have failed in some pretty spectacular ways - I know you gave everything for me - I know I let you down horribly.

Jesus came back each time with "feed my sheep - feed my lambs" - Peter was forgiven - as we can be too.

THREE was a pretty big number for Jesus and Peter - Three times Jesus prayed in that garden - three times he found His disciples sleeping - three times Peter denied his Lord - three times the rooster crowed - after three days Jesus rose again.

Friday they hung Him on the cross - Saturday a strange silence must have filled Jerusalem and so much more than just the passover festival - Sunday AMAZING Sunday when he rose from the dead and conquered the grave - killed death in one awesome blow that blew Peter sideways with confusion, love and gratitude.

Never again would Jerusalem be the same and never again would Peter deny His Lord. Yes! he may have taken a sword in that garden and mutilated the high priest servant's ear - he may have been sleeping on the job and yes! he may have gone fishing to try to come to terms with what had just happening in that empty tomb but now? Now he saw the real JESUS - he saw what it was all about - he saw himself and Jesus saw him and Yes! he would never be the same Peter again.

So Peter - the denier became the preacher extraordinaire - the encourager - the humble servant. Peter wasn't worried about succeeding although he did succeed - he wasn't worried about security although through Jesus, that was just what he received.

No! through all of this Jesus' example to Peter was submission - Just as Jesus submitted to the will of God so should we and so did Peter.

We are not called ever to submit to our sin - our struggles - often our overwhelming doubt or our insecurities but we are called to submission - submission to our Lord. Peter saw how Jesus suffered in submission to the will of God. JESUS our perfect example!

Jesus example of total submission to God is truly the only example we should follow - He can't use us when we are consumed with our own lives when we walk with a worldly swagger knowing our lives are pretty good - NO! he can only use us when we are broken down - when we can see where we have failed - when we are broken and pliable.

Will you follow Jesus today? - Are you ready to give Him all? Are you ready to put denials behind you and follow His amazing example of total submission to your Heavenly father?

What Jesus did for us on that cross enabled us to live our lives in complete surrender to Him. Will you trust Him to take your life in submission to Him?

My prayer for us this week is that each of us will come to a point in our lives where we are ready and willing to submit to the will of Jesus to give Him complete and utter control of our lives so that we can be an example as He was an example for us.

God bless you as you step out with Jesus this week.

When God shows up!!

We know deep in our hearts that God is with us all the time - He never lets us go as we have been banging on about in heaps of our blogs over the years - God's promise that He is with us and He will hold us through the darkest of times is probably THE most precious promise that I have ever encounted in my whole topsy turvy life.

But when God shows up in the middle of nowhere in the middle of hurt and floors you with his presence it can sweep you off your feet that He is actually here with you - the ever-present God - the "NOW" God - the ever-faithful God.

I was floored recently when God challenged me personally about things in my life that I had taken so much for granted as being 'just me' things that I felt I couldn't possibly change - things that had been with me for so long and been part of my very makeup and personality.

Then God showed up!

The God of the impossible showed up out of nowhere and changed me yet again to make me more like the person He wants me to be.

The 360 degree turn around can often make our heads spin and  a " Oh my goodness look what God can do" sort of tsunami affect on our puny lives which we may have thought were travelling along pretty well.

Then God showed up!

You know our God is a portable God - He is with us all the time - it is just that we don't often acknowledge that fact or even trust that He can change our lives to the degree that He can.

Emmanuel - God is with us is the very name God gave JESUS at His birth - why do you think God the Father gave such a name to his only Son - why? because that is exactly what Jesus is - HE IS WITH US! God with us - JESUS!!

In the middle of NOWHERE the shepherds heard the glad tidings of the birth of Jesus - In the middle of NOWHERE Moses stumbled upon a burning bush which in turn changed the face of Israel forever - In the middle of NOWHERE Abraham was promised he was to be the father of a great nation and In the middle of NOWHERE Philip boarded a chariot carrying an Etheopion official and overwhelmed him with the good news of the  coming Messiah.

In the middle of NOWHERE God can change you as He has changed so many - Do you believe this?

God has been with us all along - He is here - He was there when we went sailing along on our own - He was there when we almost gave up - He was there when we lest expected him to be - He was there when we got bowled over in temptation - He was there in our doubts and confusion and He is here now just waiting for us to open our eyes and see who and what was here all along!

Our God is the God of the impossible - When he shows up in our lives He can change us and change us for good.

God has been with us all along - He will never ever leave us but it is always in His timing not ours! It will be in His timings when we get blessings seemingly out of nowhere.

I have come to a point in my life where I actually look for blessings from God knowing that He is indeed a God full of surprises and I know He will literally bowl me over with the "Out of Nowhere" scenario.

It is really interesting and really amazing that He can bring our very destiny and blessings out of nowhere! When everything appears against us - even ourselves in our fallen state and in our weakest faith times when our doubts and temptations get the better of us - out of nowhere He can bring us into a fulfilling and maybe even the brightest times of our lives.

How many times have I asked myself and have heard many people ask when things go pear-shaped "where is God in this?" Thing is - He is always here - He is not passive - He is active with a capital A".

God often works in the background but He IS there moving in the most unlikely and amazing ways.

Start looking for God in the everyday - in the mundane and the ordinary. He is there and He will sustain you.

God go with you this week.

Holding onto God when it it would be so much easier to let go

When you can hold onto God even when you are hurting, when you can hold only Him even when you can't see the forest from the trees, that is the very moment when you know deep in your heart that Jesus is Lord of your life.

Today in my blog I want to make one point very clear and this point is "don't ever let go". You may not feel like you are winning but don't ever ever turn back - its those very moments in your life when  you need Him just that little bit more.

These trials that have come your way - these times in your life when you just can't seem to get your head above the water - when the tsunamis of life seem to overthrow you at every move - these may be the very moments when God is growing you for him. Don't give up now!

Many many times through the word of God many people have not let God go - I can think of Jacob -- troubled by the prospect of seeing his bully brother Esau after all those years of being apart - Jacob was so old by then - 4 wives at least 13 kids - making his slow progress back to his homeland and terrified of meeting Esau - what was he going to do?  Then the wrestling match.

He met an angel of the Lord down by the river bank and there they wrestled until morning broke - can you imagine!!

This Angel visitant said - "let me go for the morning has come" and Jacob said "I will not let you go unless you bless me."

Get those words?  I will not let you go! - Jacob knew that this person had the real power to bless him - the real power to control his life and he was determined that he wasn't going to let this guy go without a blessing.

We should be like this - we have to hang on tight to the one who saved us - letting go of our past and stop holding on to things that don't last - these worldly things that we hold so much store against - they won't help us. They won't ever save us.

We desperately need to let go of our past, let go of what people say and where we have been and who we have been with - let go of these things that because Jesus has paid the penalty.  These things, whatever they may be in your life - we can't keep hanging onto them thinking that somehow they will save us because they feel oh so easy and so easy to control.

You may never know where God is taking you  - but holding onto God is the only way to see us through the myriad of times. We don't know where all these trials and experiences on life are taking us but we just need to hold on and hang on regardless - trusting in Him to make us more and more in His likeness every day, every minute and every second regardless.

I have prayed many many times - Lord: I don't know about you - my faith is small and my unbelief sometimes overwhelms me but I want to hang on to you because you and you alone are the only one who can see me though. You found me - you hid you - you saved me and you are coming back for me and I know deep in my heart that one day I will live with you in eternity.

You know it's so often in our struggles not in our successes that God will really show us who we. Who we really rely on.

We are going to have a lot of struggles as we go through life - we will never really completely know God and when you think about it we may never really know ourselves. But through it all our inadequecies and our lack of confidences we MUST hang onto God even when it seemingly is so much easier just to let go.

God is not just the God of your victory but the God of your defeats - the God full of grace and truth is the God of your loneliness and insecurity.

If you feel like I did that God couldn't possible make anything of my messed up life - God couldn't use my mistakes and make them holy and usable for Him then think again - my message is God loves you, he can use you - I pray that you just get a glimpse of what God can do for you.

Don't let go of God - Don't even think for a second that He is far to big and holy to be bothered with you - He loves you regardless of what others say about you and how you feel inside about yourself.

God wants you for His own and through  the precious blood of Jesus He has claimed you for the Kingdom if you have given your broken life to Him through that amazing sacrifice that paid the penalty for your sin and mine.

Please don't ever let the world tell you that their way is so much easier - take the narrow way to Jesus - His way is best - His way is sure - His way is so so secure.

God bless you this week as you hang on to Jesus