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John and Dawn in the USA visitng Mark McGrath and Keith Marsh, 4th to 11th August
- If God gives you any words for John and Dawn as they travel, remember to email them to John.
- John encouraged us to look at the blog that Mark McGrath and Keith Marsh are writing, for which he has also written, and to add our comments: http://lifelineusa.us/
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John Singleton, 3rd August 2014
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John feels excited about what he knows God has in store for us in the coming days. We want to be prepared for the opportunities that are coming.
When we sing, “Your word is mighty, releasing captivesâ€, there’s a danger that we will think only of stories that happened in the Bible. But God’s word is mighty now and we will be hearing testimonies in the coming days about how it is releasing captives.
Just think about the opportunities God is already giving us – for example, John and Hans met the leader of the local council this last week; Daniel is meeting high profile people through FaithAction; and Avril is going to be meeting people in the NHS this week. We can get excited about these things and thank God for what he is doing and is going to do.
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Be prepared
When Joseph was preparing his brothers for their meeting with Pharaoh, he coached them so that they would be able to give Pharaoh the right message.
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“When Pharaoh calls you in and asks, ‘What is your occupation?’ you should answer, ‘Your servants have tended livestock from our boyhood on, just as our fathers did.’ Then you will be allowed to settle in the region of Goshen, for all shepherds are detestable to the Egyptians.â€
Genesis 46:33-34
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Joseph knew what Pharaoh was going to ask, and taught his brothers what to answer. When we have these opportunities – not just with important people in government, but the opportunities that come up in daily life and that we will be having in the coming days – we will need to know what our message is. How can we do that?
We need to wait on God, to prepare and to be instructed. We will work more on this together as we look at our vision of the future.
We also need to have an understanding of what it is that we carry. We need to know what it is that we want to communicate. For example, John doesn’t often want to talk to others about church, or being a “Christianâ€, because there are so many things that people understand by those words. But he does want to communicate that he knows God and that God talks with him. So, we need to give this some time and thought, so that we are prepared with our message.
It’s easy to imagine that when Joseph’s brothers went into Pharaoh’s palace for the first time, they could have been taken up with what they were seeing, distracted by the imposing surroundings. But we are not to be like that. We should go into conversations with humility, but knowing that we carry the word of God. We don’t need to be distracted by the importance of the person we are meeting – we carry something more important and more powerful.
The brothers might also have been worrying about whether Pharaoh knew their guilty secret – the fact that they had sold Joseph into slavery and told their father he was dead. In the same way, as we go into these conversations, we can experience undermining thoughts that threaten us, because the enemy wants us to live in intimidation. But we are bringing the word of the Lord – we don’t need to worry about whether the other person is going to bring up such-and-such.
The story of Joshua at Jericho shows us one of the best ways round in this situation.
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“Joshua commanded the army, ‘Shout! For the Lord has given you the city! The city and all that is in it are to be devoted to the Lord.’â€
Joshua 6:16-17
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At the moment when he is about to take the city, Joshua is focused not on himself, or what he might get out of the situation, but on God. It’s God who will provide and equip – it’s all about him, and he has given the instructions about what to do.
Nehemiah shows us a good prayer to pray in these kinds of circumstances. When he was about to go before the King, he prayed:
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“Give your servant success today by granting him favour in the presence of this man.â€
Nehemiah 1:11
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We can ask God to intervene, to go before us, and to prepare other people’s hearts so that they are prepared to receive us.
In summary, we need to:
• Prepare our message
• Not gawp at the surroundings, or be intimidated by the situation
• Not look at our own selves or what we can get out of the situation
• Pray for favour and success
AND YET…
God also gives us another instruction – something that seems to be the opposite of all this.
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Be led by the Holy Spirit
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“Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.â€
Mark 13:11
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We need to ‘hold in tension’ the fact that the message about being prepared, and this message about not worrying beforehand what to say, are both true.
So, on one hand, we have no excuse not to know what we believe and why, but on the other, sometimes God gives us an opportunity, not to bring our prepared message, but to say whatever God gives us at the time. We can expect then that God will enable and equip us. Both things are true and real, and God is leading us in the way we should go. He wants to speak through us!
- We are commissioned as those called by God to represent him (Matthew 10:16 says that God is sending us).
- We are equipped (Isaiah 6:7 tells us of how Isaiah’s lips were touched with a burning coal, which removed all possible disqualifications and gave him an enabling beyond the natural).
- We go forth carrying precious seed (Psalm 126:5-6). This is the most valuable, most necessary thing we could be carrying: the word that God wants to say into a situation. It brings light into the darkness and freedom to the captives.
- Like Esther, perhaps we have come to the Kingdom for such a time as this (Esther 4:14).
We need to walk in a way that is credible: our lives cannot be contrary to our words.
The good news is that you might never actually be noticed! Think of all the people who were crucial links in the chain of God’s purposes, but whose names we don’t know: the boy with the five loaves and two fish; the friends who lowered the paralysed man down through the roof to Jesus; the servants who filled the jars with water for Jesus to turn into wine. All these people were insignificant in themselves, but were used in the mighty purposes of God because they were prepared to do what Jesus asked them.
The things Jesus might ask us to do might also seem insignificant. When he told the fishermen to lower their nets on the other side of the boat, he was asking them to move the nets just a few feet. The woman who had been haemorrhaging for many years knew that all she needed to do to make a difference was to touch the hem of Jesus’ clothes. These were small, simple acts of obedience – but look at the outcomes!
One word from God can make the difference – for example, Solomon was able to bring compassion and righteousness to a situation with just a word. John commends PJ for the work he is doing now in Sierra Leone, leading without giving bribes to make things happen.
We too can bring righteousness into situations like this – or divine instruction, or the way through a crisis. Paul, in the middle of a shipwreck, gave instructions that saved the lives of everyone on board (Acts 27:21-44). The only qualification we need is being able to say “Yes, Lord†– to depend on him, and receive and respond to his word.
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John is expecting that we will have opportunities to speak and act in the coming days, so we need to know our message, be prepared to be led by the Holy Spirit, and to pray for favour.
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Governmental Prayer
Governmental Prayer is at LifeLine House, tomorrow morning at 06:15.
Here is section from the attached Governmental Prayer notes:
West Africa focus
Thanksgiving
- Standing upon Jeremiah 29:11 and what we know about God’s nature, we should be grateful that he has got us in his protection and is always working on our behalf.
- For protecting Prince and the rest of the team
- He highlighted the fact that our guys and the church were themselves lacking in belief of the existence of the virus, and we were able to bring knowledge there ( My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge Hosea 4:6) and God’s truth of his ability to protect
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Pop-Up Prayer
Prayer at any time of the day, whatever you're doing. Contact Jeremy Simmons if you are interested.
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The Holy Ghost Digital Premiere update
The Holy Ghost movie won't be shown at Andrew and Julia Tizzard's afterall this weekend.
However, there will be a viewing early September, when the movie has been released. more details to follow nearer the time!
Apologies for the inconvenience.
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