Importance of Prayer

I've been looking at the examples of Cornelius and also the ecclesia praying for Peter in prison and have been thinking how amazing prayer is.
God heard Cornelius' prayer and him and all his household + cousins etc were all baptised and given the holy spirit and through Cornelius the door of faith was opened to the Gentiles.
James had been killed, and Peter was in prison...and it was that close 'now when Herod was about to bring him out'... but the ecclesia was praying fervently. God heard their prayer and in this instance rewarded their faith to bring about His purpose. Although I can understand Rhoda's reaction at the door...not believing it could be Peter but instead something very like him.. his angel.
Seek God, while He may be found. Continually to pray fervently: 'And this is the confidence that we have towards him, that if we ask anything according to His will he hears us'.

We Live By Faith

We live by the faith of the Son of God.
Who sacrificied and gave his life to save us all.
In him there's neither jew nor Greek,
There's neither bond nor free.
We are all one in Christ Jesus,
Who came, Who came to set us free.

Chorus
So lift our voices singing,
Thanks and praise to God.
For He is there to guide us when we're crying out for help.
He had mercy on us and sent His only Son.
For it is Him we follow
And remember, and remember in this song.
We live by faith. Faith of the Son of God.

With self control let us live life with joy and peaceful hearts.
In all things give love patiently and faithfully hold fast.
To the words of God our Father,
So that we might truly be,
Like His Son our Lord and Saviour,
Who will soon, Come and reign this earth as King.

So lift our voices singing,
Thanks and praise to God.
For He is there to guide us when we're crying out for help.
He had mercy on us and sent His only Son.
For it is Him we follow
And remember, and remember in this song.
We live by faith. Faith of the Son of God.

It is to Liberty
That Jesus sets us free
Escaping from the yoke of bondage that entangles us
With a hand ready to help
Love your neighbour as yourself
Let us live by faith not law
As we wait for the coming of our Lord.

So lift our voices singing,Thanks and praise to God.
For He is there to guide us when we're crying out for help.
He had mercy on us and sent His only Son.
For it is Him we follow
And remember, and remember in this song.
We live by faith. Faith of the Son of God.

The Galatians Conference song.

Haggai @ Camp

We've had some fantastic studies this weekend. Haggai is such a positive book to look at. He gave the people the message, and they responded in obedience, and feared Yahweh.. and the result - God was with them.

They had a big problem with materialism... so do we

They couldn't figure out their priorities in life.... we have problems with this as well

God brought their ventures to nothing, so they would consider Him & His place in their lives.

What motivates us on a daily basis, are we looking for God's hand in our lives. Do we make the changes we can see need to happen?

They were given the opportunity to change, and so are we. Are we building well in the ecclesia and considering our ways?

Our ecclesia's should be living, fruitful & refreshing. And if they aren't...it's up to us to try and be the positive influences on others.

Be Strong.

Work, for God is with us

He has chosen us to be His jewels in the kingdom age.

Until then... watch and wait for the King he is coming.... he is coming back to earth to reign :-)

Sharing Kingdom Visions

At Conference we were asked to write a letter to ourselves in the Kingdom age. It was a great exercise, because it got all of us thinking about how we could solve the problems we have now with an immortal perspective.

We have our youth group camp next weekend and we've each been asked to write something down about the kingdom which is going to be collated and a copy given to each member. It's a really cool idea, because if we didn't have a hope for the future, then our lives that we're living to Christ now would be in vain.

So, I thought it would be good to share one or two things that you're really looking forward to in the kingdom, as thinking about why we want to be there really strengthens our resolve through trials in the present.

'For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us, as far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory... for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal'.

.. no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him.

For me, without having looked up many quotes is that the world WILL become a stable place 'peace & safety' in reality and the whole WORLD will worship their creator, & Christ will have stamped sin on the head for all time at the end of the thousand years when the whole world is showing God's character in their lives. God's grace will be understood properly. We'll be able to find out or just know the answers to our questions.

Do you value water?

Over the past couple of months Adelaide has announced water restrictions and as of January, we've only been able to turn the sprinklers on to water the garden on Sunday evenings. This has forced me to water the vegetables by hand as I love picking home grown veges from the garden. For 2 days last week somehow our water system didn't work, and we had to use the precious (good tasting) rainwater for everything. Water is essential for the survival of humans and it's only when you're lacking, that you realise what you had.

Spending time watering often gets me thinking. I try to always water the veges because if i don't the baby vegetables die and there aren't any to have for dinner. I try to water my favourite flowers at the same time because I'd hate to see them die. But there are times when life is too busy to water and also the physical forces of heat & wind make the garden suffer and all of the vegetables plants have a few brown leaves on them.
But I think about the spiritual analogy. If we don't set aside time daily to meditate & read, and work on the action, then our lives, are shrivelling up too. Life gets busy and we forget that we really do need time out ourselves for our faith to grow. Reflection time is just so important for all of us.

Our exhort on Sunday was by Bro Tim Badger and we looked at Job 42 with the theme in mind of praying for others to resolve our differences. It was really good to remind ourselves to pray for those who we have difficulty loving naturally. But when we do take time out to pray for others, our attitude towards them changes, as we KNOW that above all else we want to see them in the Kingdom.
We need to help each other there. So if you've got extra water... help someone else to grow :-)