Body of Christ

Heart matters

Categories ARK - Acts of Random Kindness, Body of Christ, Bowl & Harp Worship, Fragrance of Heaven, God is good, God is good stories, God is good testimonies, God is Good!, Mystic Testimony, Rev 5:8, Soaking, soaking prayer10 Comments on Heart matters

…the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp, and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people. (Rev 5:8 NIV)

I love the smell of fresh soil.

If you’re a gardener, there are certain smells that bring delight to your heart. Fragrant foliage: rosemary, basil, mint, thyme to name a few. Fragrant flowers: gardenia, daphne, magnolia, lemon, fragrant roses, lily-of-the-valley…

Then there are the fragrances that may make a gardener’s heart sing, yet leave the average ‘Joe Blow’ cold. These fragrances include freshly disturbed soil as an old tree pulls up by the roots (such as I walked past last week); a freshly weeded and watered garden; and even the freshly fertilised garden, not because I love the smell of manure, but because I know what fertilisation will bring in due time.

Such too is the Father’s heart. Or so I think…

Fragrance of our delight in Him, of our worship, of our obedience… even the fragrance of us just sitting with Him, and loving on Him. That delights the Father’s heart.

There is a fragrance of intercession that ascends to Him when it’s empowered with a heart of love. Even the simple act of a random kindness motivated from a place of compassion will release Heaven’s scent into a thirsty world.

A beautiful woman in my life group shared a vision that she had in a time of soaking. She came home, despondent after having been told at her church that they would not perform certain songs from other particular churches because they did not agree with the churches involved. This grieved her heart. She felt a great disappointment at the slander and the unkind words said about other ministries and churches. With this sadness heavy on her heart she went home, went to bed to soak, asking God ‘where are you for me in this situation?’

In this soak she went on a glorious trip and saw various churches around the world: Greek Orthodox, Anglican, Charismatic… and so the list went on. As she visited each church around the globe, she heard the Father speak to her heart on the matter.

I encourage you to listen to her words here it runs 2.24 min:

Heart in worship releases a fragrance that delights the Lord

Carol’s testimony 22nd April 2021

I know I want my worship to be a sweet fragrance.

The form of worship is not the issue, rather it is a matter of the heart.

For you see…

Heart matters…

Heart worship, true heart intercession, fills the bowls in the Temple with fragrance. In due time God will pour the fragrances back out upon the world. A fragrant Love so magnificent, so bold, so great that none will be able to contain. A Love poured straight from God’s heart to His people, for His Creation for His world.

To see that God is good – that is the answer. None of us have the right way. None of us have the only way. The Gnostics held the belief that theirs was the only way… modern gnosticism is sadly all too common today…

Instead, like a beautiful Father, He delights in the one whose heart is set on Him. The rest falls into place. If we will just fix our eyes on Jesus, instead of on each other, and then the world will taste and see that…

God is Good!

©Beth Kennedy 2021

Breathe – God is Good! (It’s 11:11 heroes of faith time)

Categories Body of Christ, God is good, God is Good!, heroes of faith, Matt 5:14-165 Comments on Breathe – God is Good! (It’s 11:11 heroes of faith time)

How to start …

In the midst of the busyness of getting ready for children to school from home, making decisions for a child to proceed with elective surgery or not, running around, collecting,  dropping, and shopping … God calls.

“Breathe,” he said. “Stop and sit with Me,” He said.

To be honest I have struggled with quiet time with God, I have beeb overstretched for so long, yet I have felt an immense stirring, a calling, a wooing, and shifting of gears, a new day dawning.

Regardless, of the “things to do” swirling, I stopped.

I worshipped.

I sat.

I breathed.

I listened.

As I listened I felt Him say “reach for your note book and write what I tell you”, and so I stilled my mind, I stilled my heart, I took up my pen and as I did, he gave me a list.

Some of the list was what I needed to do that day, while other points I wrote were battle plans to be implemented as He directed.

I wrote dot point ideas for businesses we purchase goods, or services from, that may struggle in this current climate (eg: skype lessons for the ballet children to keep the ballet school afloat); reach out to the elderly nuns that live up the street and offer them help; skype my family, and set up skype groups to celebrate birthdays with family (some who live interstate, others who live in the States); see my elderly mum through her window (she’s nearly 90 and self isolating at home – haven’t done that yet, but may when she turns 90), and the list went on … including the words:

IT’S 11:11 THE HEROES OF FAITH TIME

I put my book down and actioned the first thing to do, and as the last few days have passed, each of the things I have listed have been able to be actioned. Some of the action points have had to be very intentional and have taken time and effort (arranging in-laws family and my family skype connections, group chats, and FaceTime connections); whereas, others have come about as I have gone about my day, (saw one of the nuns on the street today as I drove and pulled over and offered to pop our numbers in their letter boxes in order to be a source of help if need be).  It hasn’t been difficult, but it has been very intentional.

Regardless of my emotions, I have chosen to stop listen and act, because we are the light in the world, a town built on a hill (Matthew 5: 14-16). That’s not to say I haven’t sat down and cried (I did a few days ago) … the cry was after a day I had served and encouraged others and had not refreshed in God … Mmmm – there is a lesson in that one for this girl!

However, after the cry, I pulled on my big girl boots, and kept going, because I was born for such a time as this …

As were you!

And so I ask you, what is God saying to you?

Breathe …

And then what?

Be in faith, walk in wisdom, and be the light you are because …

God IS Good!

 

Prayer, peace and plugging in … God is Good!

Categories Body of Christ, Community, God is good, Peace, prayer9 Comments on Prayer, peace and plugging in … God is Good!

A friend received some shocking news recently.  Her ex husband, who had been imprisoned for some serious crimes against her, was released without her knowledge a year or 2 before he was due to be released.  The history was nasty and not something I will cover here, suffice to say, when she received the news she went into serious shock at the news.

This girl became a friend through an activity that our children shared a few years ago.  She had been a person I had felt to stop and pray for about 3 years ago, as I went about my day.  God had shown up powerfully for her in the foyer of this place, and after the encounter with a loving God she sought me out and asked if she could come to my home to be prayed for again.  I agreed, and so a pattern was established that she would seek me out for prayer, especially when she was struggling.  She got a taste of a good God, and she wanted more …

Over the years we have prayed about her work, her children, her future, her fears and her hopes.  Healing has come for her, and she has seen God come through for her and her girls time and again … maybe not in her timing … but always His timing has been … perfect!

Each time we prayed God has encouraged her, loved her and wooed her closer.  She would visit my home for about an hour, and she would leave at peace and empowered with a “now word” from God to give her a future and a hope, all the while I encouraged her to read particular scriptures, to seek God’s face for herself, knowing that she also had direct access, that I was not the answer, just merely a messenger, a teacher and a sign post to Him.

By her second or third visit she gave her heart to Jesus and she had started to seek His face for herself in her life.  Our paths continued to cross, but with less regularity, yet she would continue to seek out prayer when she was struggling.  A text would come, I would make time and she would visit.  I knew some, but not all of her back story, so it was with sadness that I received her text recently telling me of her ex husband’s release.  When I read it my heart sank … I felt so strongly for her and her girls and the fear they must have been experiencing …

In response to her text I instantly prayed – feeling quite useless knowing that I couldn’t fix this one … this one was well beyond me … it was beyond her … it was basically well beyond anyone … but God!

I felt an anointing flow as I drove and prayed. I hoped, I trusted, that she would feel God with her, she needed His tangible presence at this time … and when I got home I texted to let her know I had been praying peace for her and her girls …

I saw her later that week.  She wanted and needed more prayer, in person, and she needed a cuddle, and so my husband and I made time.  We stopped in our busyness to be with her, to give her a word of encouragement, including the word “plugged in”.  We knew it was time for her to connect … not just with us, not just with God … but into a body that could care, pray and walk with her through this time …

She said that she hadn’t known what to do when she got the news.  She was paralyzed with fear and shock. She just knew to text for prayer, and so she did … and the peace came not long after.  I couldn’t call her or text her at the time, but as soon as I saw the text I started to pray knowing the stress she would have been experiencing. She knew I would pray and she told me she felt a flow of serene peace … a peace that she just could not explain … and she knew the text had got through and been responded to … she knew I was praying for her, she knew God was there for her to hang onto.  She had said at the time that the peace was amazing, but she also felt comfort that there was someone who cared enough to be available to text and to pray …

She continues the journey.  It has not been an easy few weeks, but she has now taken the next step to get “plugged in” … she is plugging in deeper with God and she is getting plugged into a local Christian community with our family (oh the blessing of a local church!).  I believe that it will be in that community (rather than it just being me and God) that healing will come.  I am trusting and hoping that community will form around her to walk with her and her girls, and that she will continue to heal, and learn how to walk knowing that God will protect her because …

God is Good!

 

 

 

 

This one was for him because…God is Good!

Categories As you go, Bill Johnson, Body of Christ, Changing atmospheres, Christian, Matthew 6:10, Obedience, Stopping for the one6 Comments on This one was for him because…God is Good!

We are having our floors resurfaced in our main living area of our home, after many years of life’s wear and tear. This necessitated moving all furniture and family out of the area for a week – effectively requiring us to find somewhere else to stay … and so we took the opportunity and headed down Great Ocean Road along our rugged, and very beautiful, Victorian coast line.

We left a day late, life being what it has been recently … too frantic, too busy, too stressful, and we arrived midday Saturday.  On our arrival we hurriedly got ready for our inaugural wander on the beach, with plans to stop and have a Devonshire tea (well scones) at the conclusion of our beach walk …

As we went down the stairs I saw a man and his wife waiting for the lift on the ground floor.  He was not quite elderly, but he had a walking stick and so I called out to my five-year-old to not hit the lift button since someone downstairs needed it more than him … he loves going up and down the lift even though it is quicker to take the stairs.  I walked on through the foyer smiling at the couple and gathering together my children, not noticing anything else in particular …

My husband had mentioned that we had forgotten something and so I said we would wait on the beach for him as he went back to the apartment …

We waited … and my husband seemed to take an extra amount of time …

Eventually, he ran onto the beach and said he had stopped to pray for someone … I laughed knowingly and said “it was the guy with the walking stick wasn’t it?”

He said “yes” and went on to explain that he had noticed him and immediately felt God’s prompting to pray for him.  Trying to ignore it he came down the stairs, realised he had forgotten something, went back into the apartment and as he walked back out of the apartment he walked straight into the guy and his wife who had got out at the wrong floor … or so they thought … my husband knew better … it was a God appointment for him!

As he told the story I said I had seen the guy but had thought nothing of it except that he needed the lift more than my son … in comparison, my husband had seen him and knew that he was meant to pray from him, and even in trying to ignore the prompting, God had set the encounter up in a way that was unavoidable and so to not stop would have been blatant disobedience …

And so, my husband obeyed, stopped and offered to pray … knowing that this one was definitely for him …

The couple happily agreed to the prayer and my husband prayed what he felt God was prompting him to pray … that he would have lightness in his step and that their time would be filled with unexpected favour …

We are all being called … more and more … it is not just the ones and twos that are called to release Heaven on earth … but all of us who believe … for Jesus told us how to pray … “on earth as it is in Heaven” (Matthew 6:10)…it’s not hard … but it is challenging …

There is a surge, a ground force, a wave arriving and hitting the Body of Christ … people are choosing to display God’s love in tangible ways … they are taking “risk” … which is walking in faith (thank you Bill Johnson) … and choosing to offer God’s goodness, His kindness, His blessings to the world at large … and, as the Body of Christ rises up to be all we are called to be, God’s goodness will be displayed and atmospheres will be changed with His glory, with His goodness … and I believe that even if nothing seems to happen at the time they have at least, as Heidi Baker puts it, had a “love encounter” … they will know that God loves them enough to send someone to them to stop, go out of their way and offer to pray …

The results are God’s … our place is to listen, stop and offer … their choice to accept or not …

A swing and a hit or a swing and a supposed miss makes no difference … every attempt matters, every attempt is a success …  just to swing, just to listen stop and obey God’s prompting will affect the atmosphere, will affect the nation … just as a bat that swings and misses causes shifts in the air around it … so too our obedience in stopping for the one … just stopping and offering makes the difference …

As we offer, seeds are scattered …  the rest is up to a loving God … and the results, no matter what we think … are always good if we are acting out of obedience because we serve a good God … a kind God … a loving God … we may never know the outcome of our obedience or the outcome of our display of love and compassion, but we can always be sure that through obedience we change destinies, we change people, we change nations because …

God is always Good!

Will the real Body of Christ please stand up? Being the Body, blesses the Body because…God is Good

Categories As you go, Body of Christ, Christmas, God is good, God's love, Identity, Love, Obedience, Psalm 34:8, Rainbows, Uncategorized2 Comments on Will the real Body of Christ please stand up? Being the Body, blesses the Body because…God is Good

So often we are encouraged to step into all that we are called to be, to be all we are designed to be, not only so that the world may “taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psalm 34:8) … but also so that the rest of the Body can walk into its identity as Beloved Sons and Daughters and function in fullness …

This is a story of one part of the Body, blessing another part of the Body … by just listening, obeying and going … taking the time to stop for another, in love.

We host a night in our home on a fortnightly basis where we invite God to come.  It is a safe environment for those that have been impacted by God on the streets to come and explore What, or rather, Who they encountered.  Some are new Christians, others have been Christians in traditional environments but are hungry for more, and still others are not yet Christians but want to know more.

One of our group, a beautiful woman who has been exploring a new Christian life, has been walking in miraculous synchronicity with her loving God.  She has been on a rapid journey of discovery, and she has desired to really step into who she is in Christ…wanting to hear, obey, and respond to Him.  In the midst of this time a person special, and close to her died.  Naturally, she has been sad.

Unbeknownst to us she had started to wonder whether she was “good enough” … we have all been there … and while we know we can never be good enough the doubts about who we are can erode the truth and shake us to the core.  This can be especially so when we are vulnerable, such as at times of loss.

At about the same time, on Monday morning, I saw another friend from our group who said she was heading off to buy this first friend a bunch of flowers.  She had a “God assignment” and she was off to do as called …

We found out on Tuesday evening, that this second friend had visited four florists.  She had known she was to buy the first friend a bunch of roses and that the roses had to be pink … but it took four florists to find just the right shade of pink …

She dropped them off, knocking on the door and giving them to the first friend, who then recounted on Tuesday night that the roses were the exact shade of pink … a bluey  pink … that she had just days before cast upon her uncle’s body at his funeral, prior to him being buried …

It was also the exact shade of pink of a rainbow she had seen another time te morning after she stepped out for the first time, doing as God had bidden her do… 

As she told the story, I could feel God’s love for her and I said: “what do you think God was trying to say to you through these roses being just the right shade of pink?” … and she looked at me and said

“… He loves me …”

And so it dawned on her that she was truly loved … just because … not because she was “good enough” … but, just because …

So I will ask, will the real Body of Christ please stand up …?

When we reach out to one another in love …

When we reach out to the world in love …

I believe the that the world truly does … taste, and see that …

God IS Good!