Mmmm....I love a great coffee.
But what kind of consumer am I?
How price-savvy are you? Read on.
Friday, August 25, 2006
Thursday, August 17, 2006
...except Caleb
Speaking this Sunday in church on the attitude or spirit of Caleb.
In particular one of the points of principle that Caleb spoke of as part of his ‘positive report’ that he brought back from the Promised Land.
Caleb and Joshua, told the people, Numbers 14:8-9 - "If the LORD delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, ‘a land which flows with milk and honey.’ Only do not rebel against the LORD, nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread; their protection has departed from them, and the LORD is with us. Do not fear them.”
Caleb looked at the challenges confronting Israel and declared: “They will be bread for us!”
If we look at the challenges we face in the right way, those challenges...
Instead of maiming us they can make us
Instead of destroying us they can develop us
Instead of finishing us they can feed us
Instead of limiting us they can lift us up to new levels
If there were ever a Bible character that displayed a right attitude or "different spirit" toward God and His Word, it was Caleb.
Numbers 14:24 – But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it!
Wholeheartedly!
Number 32:11-12 – (11) 'Because they have not followed me wholeheartedly, not one of the men twenty years old or more who came up out of Egypt will see the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob - (12) not one except Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua son of Nun, for they followed the LORD wholeheartedly.'
In particular one of the points of principle that Caleb spoke of as part of his ‘positive report’ that he brought back from the Promised Land.
Caleb and Joshua, told the people, Numbers 14:8-9 - "If the LORD delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, ‘a land which flows with milk and honey.’ Only do not rebel against the LORD, nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread; their protection has departed from them, and the LORD is with us. Do not fear them.”
Caleb looked at the challenges confronting Israel and declared: “They will be bread for us!”
If we look at the challenges we face in the right way, those challenges...
Instead of maiming us they can make us
Instead of destroying us they can develop us
Instead of finishing us they can feed us
Instead of limiting us they can lift us up to new levels
If there were ever a Bible character that displayed a right attitude or "different spirit" toward God and His Word, it was Caleb.
Numbers 14:24 – But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it!
Wholeheartedly!
Number 32:11-12 – (11) 'Because they have not followed me wholeheartedly, not one of the men twenty years old or more who came up out of Egypt will see the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob - (12) not one except Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua son of Nun, for they followed the LORD wholeheartedly.'
Sunday, August 13, 2006
A New Day
Great message in church this morning from Paul Benger. He spoke on having a ‘new wineskin spirit’.
Matthew 9:14-17
God is into new things. We may have a fantastic day, an incredible experience...but God moves on. We should move on. Don’t set up camp there...get stuck in the past.
Psalm 33:3 – ‘Sing a new song’.
Behold I do a new thing...God doesn’t do the ‘old’.
He gives us a new life...you must be ‘born again’.
We can look forward to a ‘new heaven’ and a ‘new earth’.
God has made a ‘new covenant’ through Jesus Christ.
He sometime gives people a new name (many examples in the Bible)
Stop giving OLD names to things. Stop seeing yourself as ‘useless’, ‘weak’, ‘rubbish’ – but ‘blessed’, ‘strong’. Let the weak say I am strong; let the poor say I am rich.
You need a new wineskin, need to oil it – to keep it supple. Anointing, the Holy Spirit. Be filled.
A new wineskin - new spirit, new attitude. That believes God, stands on his promises. Have a ‘youthful spirit’ – nothing to do with age. We can be old and have a youthful spirit. We can be young and have an old, senile spirit.
Be youthful – have a good attitude of heart, we can remain supple.
Things that happen when we get old (so he has been told!)
(But remember it’s nothing to do with age – but spirit and attitude)
Deafness – naturally we start to lose our hearing. Spiritually we can stop hearing the call of God, the call of faith. Keep our ears open to what God is saying.
Slowness – we may slow down in the natural but never let it happen in your spirit, in your attitude. Keep your new wineskin spirit.
Blurred Vision – even at a young age we can let our focus for the future become blurred. Keep your vision clear.
Routines – we get into our routines of doing things. Don’t let your spirit get into silly routines. eg - Bitterness, unforgiveness.
Weakness – as we get older naturally. But not in the spirit – grow stronger. Keep alive in your spirit.
Security – we ensure we get all our ‘policies’ up to date. We don’t want to take any risks. In our spirit – never stop taking risks!
Small World – this can be where we live as we get old. Let us not live here spiritually. Determine to stay out of a ‘small world’ mentality.
Brittleness – as we get older we find it easier to get down but much harder to get back up again. Let us never let our spirits, our attitudes become inflexible. Let us lose our brittle, inflexible attitudes.
Memories – we tend to have memories instead of dreams. ‘We liked it back then’. It’s ‘nice’ to have memories...but keep on dreaming!
Great word!
Matthew 9:14-17
God is into new things. We may have a fantastic day, an incredible experience...but God moves on. We should move on. Don’t set up camp there...get stuck in the past.
Psalm 33:3 – ‘Sing a new song’.
Behold I do a new thing...God doesn’t do the ‘old’.
He gives us a new life...you must be ‘born again’.
We can look forward to a ‘new heaven’ and a ‘new earth’.
God has made a ‘new covenant’ through Jesus Christ.
He sometime gives people a new name (many examples in the Bible)
Stop giving OLD names to things. Stop seeing yourself as ‘useless’, ‘weak’, ‘rubbish’ – but ‘blessed’, ‘strong’. Let the weak say I am strong; let the poor say I am rich.
You need a new wineskin, need to oil it – to keep it supple. Anointing, the Holy Spirit. Be filled.
A new wineskin - new spirit, new attitude. That believes God, stands on his promises. Have a ‘youthful spirit’ – nothing to do with age. We can be old and have a youthful spirit. We can be young and have an old, senile spirit.
Be youthful – have a good attitude of heart, we can remain supple.
Things that happen when we get old (so he has been told!)
(But remember it’s nothing to do with age – but spirit and attitude)
Deafness – naturally we start to lose our hearing. Spiritually we can stop hearing the call of God, the call of faith. Keep our ears open to what God is saying.
Slowness – we may slow down in the natural but never let it happen in your spirit, in your attitude. Keep your new wineskin spirit.
Blurred Vision – even at a young age we can let our focus for the future become blurred. Keep your vision clear.
Routines – we get into our routines of doing things. Don’t let your spirit get into silly routines. eg - Bitterness, unforgiveness.
Weakness – as we get older naturally. But not in the spirit – grow stronger. Keep alive in your spirit.
Security – we ensure we get all our ‘policies’ up to date. We don’t want to take any risks. In our spirit – never stop taking risks!
Small World – this can be where we live as we get old. Let us not live here spiritually. Determine to stay out of a ‘small world’ mentality.
Brittleness – as we get older we find it easier to get down but much harder to get back up again. Let us never let our spirits, our attitudes become inflexible. Let us lose our brittle, inflexible attitudes.
Memories – we tend to have memories instead of dreams. ‘We liked it back then’. It’s ‘nice’ to have memories...but keep on dreaming!
Great word!
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
Yorkshire Day
Today is Yorkshire Day, when men and women from across this historic county gather to celebrate their...well, Yorkshireness - leaving outsiders baffled about why they have such a high opinion of themselves....read on
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