The Holy Spirit Will Never Embarrass You!

Last Sunday was Pentecost Sunday and North Rand for the preceding week we prayed that in all our services, we would experience a powerful movement of God’s Spirit in His people.
At first I expected people to fall over, be slain, to sing, dance etc.
But there were precious little visible signs: only the odd tear.
Was God working I could hear a small voice asking - perhaps you’ve missed the thing altogether!

To be honest I had been praying all week that God would not embarrass us and we were not disappointed! In all the services God ministered to His people as they came forward to receive prayer. I was fortunate to be praying with folk and for the most part I prayed for the Holy Spirit to pour into people’s lives.
We might never know the consequences of our ministry but I have absolute peace that God is in control. He knows us better than we know ourselves. Indeed He will work in us according to His purposes.

Do you want more of God in your life?
The first step is to become a Christian by asking Jesus into your life. The next step is to open your heart to Him, wait upon Him with constant prayer and reading of the Scripture and He will reveal Himself. He has promised and He always delivers on His promises.

If you are needing help, go to our link Tell Me About Jesus and pray the prayer with us. If you want to share your story of God’s work in your life then go to the blog comment. Your testimony could change someone’s life!

Power-Filled Living

Imagine living and accomplishing all the things you ever dreamed of doing. Perhaps you wanted to climb Everest, parachute over Hartebeestpoort dam, own your own company, nurse the sick, be a professional sportsman, be the best parent to your child, write a novel, paint a dramatic picture or whatever wonderfully inspiring thing you dreamed.

Well, Scripture says that we can do all these things!
1 Corinthians: 12: 1-11 speaks about the gifts (talents) that are given to every believer. Some are given gifts of healing, some gifts of miraculous powers and so on.
Couple these gifts to our natural abilities, personal style and passions and you have the perfect recipe for Power-Filled Living. It is only when we discover all of these, that we will be enabled to understand what our unique purpose and contribution to God’s creation is.
Scripture says we are given the gifts as determined by the Holy Spirit to enable us to fulfil our God-given purpose for our lives. Although Paul was teaching about the gifts used to glorify God and to edify (encourage moral living), there is no doubt in my mind that once we live in this way, the benefits will spill over into every area of our lives and we will be able to accomplish more than we ever dreamed possible.

POWER-FILLED LIVING IS PURPOSE-DRIVEN EXISTENCE.

Do you know what your gifts, passions and unique style are?
Are you wanting to live with purpose and meaning?
Then take the following steps:

1. Make sure that you are able to claim – Jesus is Lord of my life:

And

2. Pray that the Holy Spirit will reveal them to you and join a course
such as Network, which will enable you to discover your servant
profile.

If you need help with number 1, go to our web page http://www.northrandmeth.org.za/ and click on the link – Tell Me About Jesus. You can also email us for information on our courses at nrmcmeth@telkomsa.net .

Energy…..

Just last week, a friend whom I hadn’t seen for awhile phoned me in the middle of a busy morning. You know those mornings when you glance at your watch and it’s 8h45 and when you look at it again it’s 13h00.
To be honest, I wanted to say I’d call him back but something in his tone made me sit back and listen.
“John I’m absolutely exhausted” he began.
“Why?” I asked politely.
“My church is making me tired,” he replied.
“Are you sure it’s them and not yourself?”
“You know, at first I thought it was me and then in my quiet time this morning, the Lord showed me the areas in my work where the energy was literally being sucked out of me. People complaining about the young children making noise in the church, others moaning about the choice of hymns and others concerned about the kind of tea served on Sundays.”
“How can I help?” I asked
“I overheard you telling someone awhile ago that you have regular altar calls in you church…”
“Don’t you?” I asked
“No…” he replied
“Well don’t you think you should?”
“What difference will it make?” he said tiredly.
“It makes all the difference in the world.”
“You really think so?” he replied, his voice starting to reflect a newness of purpose. “We used to do it often but somehow we lost our way. You know I feel better already….”

Another word we can use for energy in the life and calling of the believer is the Holy Spirit. The Spirit’s work is to make us bold, give us strength, guide, counsel and empower us in our calling.

Are you struggling with energy levels when it comes to your ministry at work, in your family or at home?

If you are: pray and ask the Holy Spirit to open the eyes of your heart to God’s calling on your life. The power you receive when doing His will, will overflow into every area of your life as you live out your unique purpose for living.

(PS Some of you reading this letter will be able to testify to this and your testimony on the Blog in the comment box may change someone’s life.)

Regrets:

How often do you look back and think about the opportunities you’ve missed or dreams that you had and didn’t live out?
I think most of us can say that there were at least one or two things that we regret not having done, but how many of us can definitely pain at not having a dream come true.
When Leigh-Ann and I trained for the Comrades Marathon in 2001, I think we knew deep down that we were never going to finish the race, mainly because I was too slow (Leigh-Ann always managed to finish before me).
But that never stopped us. We ran approximately 1000 kilometres of training from January to the start of the race in June, getting up at 4 am some mornings to get to races etc. And most mornings I wondered whether I was crazy!!!! (My friends seemed to think so).
I believe our faith journey can often be just like that!
Jesus calls us to live for Him, in Him and asks that He be allowed to live through us. In other words, we are called to strive to a way of living that very few of us will be able to achieve. Perhaps some of the time our friends (AND OURSELVES) may think we are crazy.
However, one thing that kept me running was the thought that one day I would regret not having tried. And when I think of my faith, I remember a captain in the army who was asked, “What will you do if one day you get to heaven and find out that God doesn’t exist?”
The captain's answer was, “More to the point - what are YOU going to do if God does exist?”

Leigh-Ann and I were stopped at the halfway mark on the Comrades route. We missed the cut off by nine seconds!
Later that afternoon, as we waited in the stadium for friends to finish, we bumped into my brother, who up to that point had run and finished thirteen races and the look on his face when we told him we had not finished was one of : Why did you waste your time?

I have no regrets about not finishing the race, only the peace of knowing that I gave it my best shot and the joy of knowing that Leigh-Ann and I grew closer as we shared time on the road together.

Can you say the same about your life?
Jesus doesn’t want you to have any regrets. He wants to draw you closer to Him!

If you feel that He is calling you right now, turn to the link, Tell me about Jesus on our web page (www.northrandmeth.org.za) and pray the sinners’ prayer and live from this moment on without regrets.

More than….

Just a week ago Leigh-Ann and I were looking forward to a week end off from our hectic life in Johannesburg, but we were really not sure where to go. I love to leave things open, she needs to have them planned well in advance. Being the loving person she is, I usually get my way when it comes to holidays and week-ends away. Mainly because if I don't, I have the tendency to make the entire event unpleasant for everyone.
However, we were still undecided until two days before we were due to leave. A colleague I worked with in Grahamstown, who now lives in White River (near Nelspruit in Mpumalanga), phoned to invite us for the week end. An answer to prayer I thought. Little was I to know just how much!
After an interesting trip and formal re-uniting with our friends, we relaxed and enjoyed the sights and sounds of the “slow-veld.” We also spent time in deep and heavy theological discussion, particularly around the church and its mission.
Finally, Sunday evening eased in and our hosts informed us that they had invited friends over for a braai (barbeque for those not South African). At first I felt slightly irritated at the “intrusion”, but after ten minutes we began to share on the merits of rural living versus city life.
Slowly it dawned on me that for two weeks prior to our departure, the Lord had been challenging me about the ‘unchurched.’ It seems that we (the church) are very good at looking after those familiar with church and all its many facets. But the Lord said to me: John, what about those who are unfamiliar with my church?
In truth, all I wanted to do was relax in good company and not think too much. Well here was a couple who had little experience of church or God. So suddenly in the conversation God led me to convey the message, in ‘normal’ conversation, that He loves everyone including those who don’t know him. In fact He loved me long before I knew Him. I now realise that church is important but never more important than a personal relationship with God through His Son Jesus Christ.
Do you realise that God loves you? You may know it already which is wonderful and now God wants you to tell others about Him or perhaps you are afraid or disillusioned by church, which can seem complicated and cold.

Know this: God is warm and loving and wants a relationship with you: He wants to tell you that He loves you and hear you say you love Him too.
If this is where you are now, here are two easy steps to change your life: (1) go to our webpage (www.northrandmeth.org.za) and click on our link “Tell me about Jesus” and pray the sinners’ prayer and (2) find yourself a church near where you live. Trust God to show you and help you to come to know a loving caring family. Give it some time, the more you attend, the more familiar you’ll become with all its facets and like our week end away, you will receive more than you ever imagined.