Premier League

Another great Sunday with Dave Gilpin from Hope City Church in the U.K. Not only a great preacher but an awesome guy off the platform as well. He shared a amazing message about doing our Christian life in the Premier League or the top grade team. Jesus whole life message wasn't about living a life of ease or a life of choices based on preferential living. But He spoke about forsaking all to follow Him, about leaving family to pursue the call, a life that is prepared to lay it all down for a greater cause. That's premiership living! Sadly many Christians settle for the 2nd grade or the 5th division has beens. They used to dream of being first grade, they use to pray that God would use them but now disappointment, bitterness and indifference has weighed them down and relegated them to the league of the average. God help us to stay in the premiership.

Its only a flesh wound!

The other day I came home from work to find my wife nursing her swollen arm. Its only sprained she non confidently said. Now I am no doctor although I don't mind the occasional episode of House, but even I could tell it was worse. We had a dinner appointment that night and friends of ours convinced her to go to the hospital (Isn't it amazing that our wives will listen to friends more than husbands some times) so off we went. After a 90 minute wait the doctor looked at her arm. "Its only bruised", Kathy told him! But he didn't need episodes of House to let her know even before the x ray that it was broken. And in 2 places it was!
Some people do life with a "its only a sprain" mentality or in Monty Pythons words "Its only a flesh wound" when in fact there is actually a break. Slowing down enough, being surrounded by the right people who love and care for you is a good start to recognising the type of healing that is needed.

NO!

2 Cor. 12:7 (NIV)
To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.

The great thing about this verse is that no one knows what Paul's "thorn" was. Some say epilepsy, some say a speech impediment, some say an eye disease, I say his thorn was baldness that way I can relate with him. I think the bible doesn't tell us what it was because God knew that we would build a theology around it.

2 Cor. 12:8 (NIV)
Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.

This doesn’t mean Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday
This is 3 seasons in his life he has spent extended time pleading with God, fasting, in extra prayer, crying out to God to get free from whatever was tormenting him.
There was a period of time when Paul seemingly wasn’t getting answers. Now this should encourage some of you because you are in a season where not a lot is happening in your life.
And you have been wondering if God even knows your name, and God’s silence has been mistaken for His absence.
After 3 times pleading with God with all that faith and confidence with God there is no answer.

2 Cor. 12:9 (NIV)
But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."

You mean you aren't taking it away? And God gives the response that none of us like. NO!
Grace in this context is the strength and ability to endure.

Your greatest weakness is God’s greatest opportunity to show Himself strong in you.

I sat in hospital yesterday with a good friend who has some serious health challenges. We have prayed, anointed him with oil, read scripture and all else us good Pentecostals know to do. He is still in hospital. This is one of those moments that Paul is talking about.

God doesn't always deliver us from our circumstances however He will always deliver us through our circumstances.

A lot of people when God says no simply walk away or they shake their fist at God with anger and disappointment and they miss out on the grace of God to endure. They never see God's strength stepping into lifes struggles.

So how will you respond when God say's NO?

Faith

We start a new series tomorrow about faith. I am using the first two weeks to disassemble the wrong thinking about faith. A lot of people live in presumption rather than faith. What we lean our faith against really determines how our believing will go when things arent turning out the way we wanted.

Hebrews 11:13 (NIV)
All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance.

I love this cause its about people who never got what they were expecting but they never stopped expecting because it was a promise!
The bridge between our hope and our faith is the promise that we have from God.