Prayer Flag

I was walking around in a different city when a community art centre piqued my curiosity so I wandered in and was invited to paint a flag. They were doing an art project to display in the city square 5000 flags painted by people in the community. The theme for the flags was "Hope and Dreams". As I looked at the strings of flags hanging up it reminded me of a moden twist on the Tibetan prayer flags which are strung outside a house and when the wind has blown them away then the wish has been granted and the prayer fulfilled.

The fabric colours you could choose from were orange, yellow, red, purple and blue. I thought blue best reflected my message. This was my contribution:

Bible Study: Amos

"Seek good, not evil, that you may live. Then the LORD God Almighty will be with you, just as you say he is. Hate evil, love good, maintain justice in the courts. Perhaps the LORD God Almighty will have mercy on the remnant of Joseph." (Amos 5:14)

So anyway I will start my first ever bible study in two weeks but until then it's just been me reading and studying by myself. Well more reading...and often focusing on the blurbs of each book thanks to my Spiritual Renewal Bible that so excellently gives overviews to decipher and make sense of all that difficult language and complex ideas to get a "big picture understanding"...  I find you can easily get overwhelmed and bogged down by the difficult archaic language or metaphorical concepts  if you are trying to understand solely by your human efforts and not enlightened by the Holy Spirit as to correct interpretation understanding.

So anyway, although I DID try to start reading the bible from page 1 and I did manage Genesis, Exodus etc...then maybe I got lazy to read in order. Lately I admit I have found it more effective to haphazardly read by books or especially where God leads me, I find this method a more fruitful experience...because it tends to highlight themes that are directly applicable to my life at the time...and people say the bible is irrelevant and out of date just because it is 2000 years old??! Not so! (In my experience)...if anything I find it such a magical book that holds the answers to every kind of situation or predicament that life throws at us and is the ultimate wise counsel :)

So anyway God led me to the above quoted passage. To be honest I never even knew a book called Amos existed!!! So it was pretty interesting to find out there was this tiny book under the name of Amos hidden in the bible... So anyway when I read the blurb that deciphers what the book is about, it's full of great themes and I am not sure why I have never ever heard it mentioned or referenced to know that it even existed...

So just to recap because I bet many others were also not aware of this book of Amos....a brief synopsis...

"God called Amos, a shepherd from Tekoa, to awaken his people from their spiritual sleep. Sadly, their sinful behaviour was worse than some of their pagan neighbours! Amos warned them of the painful consequences that would follow their sinful behviour..."(from Spiritual Renewal Bible, NIV, 1998).


The Key themes listed are:

Complacency Leads To A Downfall
We Are Created for Relationship
God Honors Upright Hearts
Spiritual Renewal Begins with Surrender

So anyway, very interesting to me, anyway :) Now that I have whet your appetite if you are interested you can go and read it for yourself, perhaps with the help of some study bible...Anyway I am always very pleased when I discover something completely new...Amos! Have you read it?

Blessings in Christ,

Zoe

"Won-Der-Ful God I Look To You..."

I heard the post title's lyrics in a a song today and in fact while I write this post, the album cycle repeated so I hear them right now again! :)

In another song I also heard "Your Ways are Higher".

Two very good things to always keep in mind to live an effective Christian life!

So anyway, because of travel and the terrible weather I haven't been to My church in 3 weeks...that is a very loooong time and I definitely feel the lack! :( So, - unsurprisingly- I noticed I had been further from God than usual and I had been very influenced by people with their human mindsets and their ways of the world. I know this because I was lacking the usual peace and content  and confidence that comes with being close to God. I was feeling anxious and my human logical mindset was running riot with worries about the future! I also had been turning to talk to people for advice rather than Seeking His Face first and His all knowing wisdom! I think after having been in a place where the presence of God was so strong, I had become complacent or at least relatively slack in my usual spiritual routines of quite a lot of time spent in prayer and communing with God as well as plenty of reading Christian books /or the bible...probably I am also still tired and under the weather from insufficient rest since being back.

So anyway it is not surprising that I felt some kind of oppression whether you want to call it spiritual attack or succumbing to the heavy energy of a human mindset such as fear, doubt, anxiety...and my vision just felt mired and cloudy with ANGST in general, a common affliction of an overactive human mind...

So all the negative feelings and thoughts crept in as my lack of faith/doubt had made a chink in my Ephesians armour...and my shield of FAITH was not up to deflecting all the arrows!

Whenever that happens it is always a good wake up call that you've drifted too far away and need to draw near to Him again...

Being able to wholely and solely Trust in and Obey God requires constant conscientious personal effort and commitment- walking totally In Faith can be very daunting and logic defying or at least unintuitive and unnatural to the human mindset...

So anyway yesterday afternoon in my lack of peace I was crying out to God over and over in my mind for direction, guidance, and to TELL ME, SHOW ME what to do next...

He answered :)

Circumstances in my tangible existence all worked together a la God's Perfect Engineering to SHOW me very clearly! And I was awestruck  -as usual - especially whenever it happens so responsively and tangibly and clearly, but I have since had a little time to digest my excitement :)

In my blessed experience, PRAYER or calling on God is quite magical...it is almost like in the Ali Baba story where when you say "Open Sesame" a magical doorway you didn't even see existing in front of you opens a new unknown pathway of adventure before you :)

And that is why Prayer is SO POWERFUL and SO Important...because it is our link with God and how we can access his infinite source of wisdom and power.

When we call out, God hears...sometimes he responds favourably and sometimes he doesn't. Sometimes the response is delayed. It's all according to His perfect wisdom and timing and will....but definitely he HEARS us when we cry out to him: I am sure of that!!!

May this post find you near to Him as well :)

Zoe

Godly Love

I was blessed enough to spend the last few days in the "city of churches" which was very edifying...I have never been to a city where there is such a massive concentration of churches or Christian schools EVERYWHERE relative to such low population. In any case this was not lost on me...unlike most cities which I find very "heavy" and "oppressive" feeling, I felt great there - God's presence was very strong and perhaps I witnessed that most tangibly with its people being so nice and friendly and helpful with nothing to gain for themselves from the exchange - very unusual!

While I was visiting a small town there I had an opportunity to mingle with people I would never usually come across let alone associate with. It became very evident to me how much prejudice I have been socialised with from young and how I avoid certain people based on superficial criteria such as tattoos and piercings, people with bad language, uneducated people etc etc. I think all humans are guilty of this kind of prejudice to an extent...it is normal for us to be fearful of what is different and unfamiliar...

In any case I found this time spent with such different people a good challenge and reprogramming of my human mindset to consciously work to do away with prejudice and be more open, and to love and accept ALL people, just as God does...

Black and White, Light and Dark...The Great Chasm

I had a really blessed novelty experience this weekend...a road trip with ALL seasoned Christians around my age...My first proper fellowship opportunity with people not double my age!

I think what the trip highlighted and reiterated to me was the huge CHASM that exists in the fundamental mindset and vision between most believers and non-believers... And that it is important for me to have constant fellowship with other Christians and to be firmly rooted within a church. 

Energetically, going to church and being around real Christians is so edifying like coming into a nice warm house from harsh weather elements...Conversely, interacting with the secular world with its army of hostile, anti-Christ energies after time spent solely with believers can sometimes feel incredibly oppressive and dirty...like coming out of a refreshing spring only to be thrown into a pit of muddy quicksand :( Yes, I am THAT sensitive to the difference that such analogy is not an overexaggeration unfortunately...

The bible confirms my sentiments...

For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? (2Corinthians 6:14)

One thing I have struggled with a lot since coming to faith is that most of my friends and family are still of the world and with an opposing, and at times overtly hostile spirit. And although sometimes I just want to run away and avoid the unpleasantness that is associating with such unbelievers, the bible teaches that although we should not be yoked with unbelievers and also:

Do not be misled: "Bad company corrupts good character." (1 Cor 15:33)

It also counsels how to deal with unbelievers: 

And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful.  Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will. (2 Tim 2:24-26)

AND,
 In the same way, Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. (Matt 5:16)

So this is an ongoing challenge for me. And although it is always tempting to avoid associating with unbelievers completely so that life is easier and we don't feel bad, how are we to share the Truth, if we don't brave going into the world?  So obviously, we are not meant to avoid them completely... 

So I cannot express enough that I am extremely thankful for the support that is my Christian family:
Bless you, Brothers and Sisters † ♥!

p.s The song we liked on repeat play in our car was 'By Your Side' by Tenth North Avenue, which is a nice nice reminder that although we constantly face rejection and trouble in the world, God is always there holding us, and that is all we really need :)

The Root Of All Sickness and the Root of all Healing...

Before God called me, I was treating sick people. Some really quite sick people. Like the kinds of people that possess a multitude of all kinds of mysterious ailments to which conventional medicine has no answers nor explanations, let alone reprieve for....

Many of these cases had ended up with me as their "last stop hope" having spent thousands of dollars seeking help from all manner of health professionals and specialists under the sun. Many of them had lives significantly impacted by illness such that their lives were so filled with limitations that they resembled some kind of PRISON of pain and suffering.

In the time spent doing this, and with a significant timeline and history of such illness myself, I have observed, reflected and learnt So Much about sickness and healing...

For one, it became very apparent to me that many of these conditions had a definitive spiritual-psychological root and could be traced to past wounds such as from traumatic and abusive childhoods, lack of love and unideal parenting, as well as Sins such as bitterness, resentment and lack of forgiveness.

In the most complex of cases, as the weeks and months went by it became apparent I could only do so much to alleviate their symptoms because ULTIMATELY, it is GOD who is the TRUE HEALER and that is where Cure might be found if it be part of God's plan, because GOD is also DELIVERER! 

And these two truths are found throughout the bible:

'But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds', declares the LORD. (Jeremiah 30:1)

By his wounds we are healed. (Isaiah 53:5)

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. (Psalm 147:3)

From the LORD comes deliverance. (Psalm 3:8)

Moses answered the people, "Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today." (Exodus 14:13)

So if we believe the bible is the Word of God, it follows that we can STAND on these promises!

And in my own life experience and from what I have observed with others, God is So Faithful to those with Faith...

And just as PRAYER is how God hears us, FAITH (not to mention OBEDIENCE) is the catalyst that unleashes His POWER:

If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer. (Matthew 21:22)

So what better Rock is there to stand on than The One who is the same yesterday and today and forever.(Hebrews 13:8)?

To be completely honest, the point I came to in my later clinical practice was just about going through the expected procedural motions, but really thinking inside: "Actually, prayer is what this person NEEDS and would probably be more effective," especially if the goal is complete healing...So I guess given all this history, it's No coincidence that I was led to join my very first church :) which incidentally has an amazing healing ministry, and I guess because the leadership and body is so obedient and faithful, the presence and power of God consistently resides and moves! (Something I've not witnessed in the many churches I have visited...)

In conclusion, things that block and prevent healing are SINS such as resentment, bitterness and lack of forgiveness. And we must accept the fact that all humans are flawed and sinful in nature, HOWEVER by not forgiving whoever has wronged or hurt us in the past, even if that is ourselves, we are actually holding on to hurt and wounding, which given Time will transmute into manifest bodily sickness.
So the antidote we must put in practice MUST be those things of God...FORGIVENESS AND LOVE, which I'm glad to say seem to be universally recognised spiritual principles...

"Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free."(John 8:32)

Healing to all and Blessings in Christ,
Zoe

Food for Thought: Some T.S Eliot

Opening Stanza from Choruses from "The Rock"

The Eagle soars in the summit of Heaven,
The Hunter with his dogs pursues his circuit.

O perpetual revolution of configured stars,

O perpetual recurrence of determined seasons,

O world of spring and autumn, birth and dying

The endless cycle of idea and action,
Endless invention, endless experiment,
Brings knowledge of motion, but not of stillness;
Knowledge of speech, but not of silence;
Knowledge of words, and ignorance of the Word.
All our knowledge brings us nearer to our ignorance,
All our ignorance brings us nearer to death,
But nearness to death no nearer to GOD.
Where is the Life we have lost in living?
Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?
The cycles of Heaven in twenty centuries
Bring us farther from GOD and nearer to the Dust.

T. S. Eliot (1888-1965),
The Rock (1934)