Suiting up

Today, I went to see the film ‘Puss in Boots’. In my opinion, it is waaaaaay better than the shrek movies. But, that might be just because i’m a cat lover. (but I don’t sing songs about cats like this lady…  )

I do love cats. I’m thankful to God for cats. They are a wonderful creation. (see here.) Puss in boots follows the story of the animated cat outlaw/hero. The cat has a sword and a hat, and of course, boots. And those things work for that cat!

(I once tried to put a mini santa hat on my cat, but she ran away.)

If you like cats and/or shrek, then go see puss in boots. BUT THIS POST IS NOT ABOUT THE MOVIE ‘PUSS IN BOOTS’. No no no. I just used it as  a tenuous link to talk about preparedness. Y’see, in the film, that cat is prepared. He has the moves and the style, and he’s good at sword fighting. He has the wits and skills to get out of tough situations.

Sometimes as a christian, our day to day life seems hard. And, to be honest, that is to be expected:

2 Corinthians 4

New International Version (NIV)

⁷ But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. ⁸ We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; ⁹ persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. ¹⁰ We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. ¹¹ For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. ¹² So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.

New International Version (NIV)

Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica

No one said that living for Jesus would be the easiest thing ever. But, lemme tell ya, it is the best decision you’ll ever make. And it is worth it. Trust me on that one.

So, as we live for Jesus, spreading the gospel and leading people to Him, we may feel that we need a hand; we may feel that the world is closing in on us. We may even sometimes feel that our darkest hour is upon us.  But, good news! We have the Holy Spirit living within us! And also we have the armour of God!!! And through God, we can be prepared for these times; God can get us through anything:

Ephesians 6

New International Version (NIV)

The Armor of God

¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹ Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. ¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. ¹³ Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. ¹⁴ Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵ and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶ In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷ Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

¹⁸ And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. ¹⁹ Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel

New International Version (NIV)

Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica

We may be hard pressed on each side, but we can stand our ground and stand firm in the faith! We have the belt of truth and the breastplate of righteousness!  Our feet are fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace! In our hands, we have the shield of faith and the sword of the Spirit. Upon our heads, we don the helmet of salvation. We are prepared for whatever life throws at us through the power of God.

Whenever I read this passage, it stirs me up inside! This shows that no matter how bad our day might seem, or how bad we feel, God is always there by our side! Even when we are hard pressed on every side, God gives us armour to help us keep going on. When we feel defenceless, we can always come to God for help! No matter how awful things seem, God is always with us and there for us. AINT THAT SUMMIN? Wonderful!

But you may be thinking ‘breastplate of righteousness? what is this, medieval times?’ No, its not. Its actually 2011. In the AD.  But, if you’d prefer, i’ll show you the passage again in the message version (more up-to-date language).

Ephesians 6

The Message (MSG)

A Fight to the Finish

^10-12And that about wraps it up. God is strong, and he wants you strong. So take everything the Master has set out for you, well-made weapons of the best materials. And put them to use so you will be able to stand up to everything the Devil throws your way. This is no afternoon athletic contest that we’ll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and all his angels.

^13-18Be prepared. You’re up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it’s all over but the shouting you’ll still be on your feet. Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words. Learn how to apply them. You’ll need them throughout your life. God’s Word is an indispensable weapon. In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each other’s spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out.

¹⁹And don’t forget to pray for me. Pray that I’ll know what to say and have the courage to say it at the right time, telling the mystery to one and all

The Message (MSG)

Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

 

As we live for God, He wants the best for us. So He gives us things to keep us strong and to help us keep going on. God knows that there are things in life that we won’t be able to handle in our own strength, so He lends us His. And He calls us to read His word and pray. We must pray for each other and love one another; we must help each other to keep going! And as we keep going, we must continue with the mission; we must spread the good news of Jesus to the world! We must spread His love and lead people to salvation in Him. But, not in our own strength;  We do all this  in His! WOOHOO!

 

CONFIDENCE

God can speak to you through anything. God can use anything.

…

I think its a pretty well known fact that I like Marvel Comics. (And DC and Shonen Jump, amongst others.) I Like the graphic novels, the films, the clothing – you name it! My work bag is even a marvel bag! One of my favourite marvel characters is Iron Man. I always liked how intelligent and outspoken he was; how much confidence he had. And also the whole metal flight suit thing is pretty darn cool!  So yeah, I like iron man. (There is a point to this; i’m CONTEXTUALISING!)

…

Last weekend, as I mentioned in an earlier post, I was at a soul survivor naturally supernatural conference. It was awesome! I hung out with God! At one point in the evening session, the leader of the session (Mike Pilavachi) felt that, in the Holy Spirit, all the people in the room under a certain age needed to be prayed for. Naturally, I stood up and went for prayer.I’m a bit of an introvert, so the concept of standing up in front of a lot of people scared me a bit. Its an issue i’ve been needing to deal with for a while. But standing up and going out for prayer was the right thing to do. I could feel it in my soul. Two guys ended up praying for me. The first guy prayed some really nice things and it was really encouraging. But its the second guy that I want to focus on.

As he was praying for me, he was getting things from the Holy Spirit; like, by this I mean the Holy Spirit was giving me spiritual gifts/ doing things spiritually for me as he was praying for me. That night, as the man was praying for me, he suddenly got from the Holy Spirit that God was going to build up my confidence; that I would no longer rely on my own strength, but that I would rest in His divine power. And then the guy said something peculiar. (I had my eyes closed at this point and was in the generic ‘receiving’ pose). He said that he was getting the word for me that I would become more confident. And then he said, it would be like an iron man. Which he then quickly corrected from an iron man to iron man. At this point I opened my eyes. Never in my whole life has God spoke to me through iron man! Then the guy asked me if this meant anything to me. Being the big comics fan I was like yeah it does. I was slightly confused though. I don’t know why! God made me – He knows I like iron man too! He knows how I admired the confidence of iron man/ Tony Stark. The guy looked a bit confused too. I don’t think it meant anything at all to him. So I closed my eyes again and the guy continued to pray for me. Then as he was praying, he got a word from the Holy Spirit that God was going to bestow upon me the confidence of iron man and it would be like a physical iron strengthening of my bones! Although I was still a bit confused, I was excited by this! It was from God and through His holy power – I’m all up for that! And as the guy prayed for me, I did feel the Holy Spirit do something to me. Some of my bones did physically shake at the time too! It was great!

Since then, I’ve already seen a change in myself. In leading worship on Sunday morning, I went all out in worship. Apparently I moonwalked. That hasn’t ever happened in church before.

In seminars and things, I’ve felt more open to speaking up.

In evangelism, I’ve felt prompted and just gone with it.

In meeting new people, I’ve just had the drive to go for it.

In prayer, I’ve felt the need to pray for certain people about certain things. I’ve been moved to tears in prayer. I’m becoming more sensitive to the Holy Spirit and i’m loving it.

I have the confidence of iron man, but it is through the power of God! And God’s strength beats iron man’s any day!

…

I was reading my bible earlier tonight and a psalm caught my eye:

Psalm 30

New International Version (NIV)

 

Psalm 30

Psalm 30^[a]

A psalm. A song. For the dedication of the temple.^[b] Of David. ¹ I will exalt you, LORD,
for you lifted me out of the depths
and did not let my enemies gloat over me.
² LORD my God, I called to you for help,
and you healed me.
³ You, LORD, brought me up from the realm of the dead;
you spared me from going down to the pit.

⁴ Sing the praises of the LORD, you his faithful people;
praise his holy name.
⁵ For his anger lasts only a moment,
but his favor lasts a lifetime;
weeping may stay for the night,
but rejoicing comes in the morning.

⁶ When I felt secure, I said,
“I will never be shaken.”
⁷ LORD, when you favored me,
you made my royal mountain^[c] stand firm;
but when you hid your face,
I was dismayed.

⁸ To you, LORD, I called;
to the Lord I cried for mercy:
⁹ “What is gained if I am silenced,
if I go down to the pit?
Will the dust praise you?
Will it proclaim your faithfulness?
¹⁰ Hear, LORD, and be merciful to me;
LORD, be my help.”

¹¹ You turned my wailing into dancing;
you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,
¹² that my heart may sing your praises and not be silent.
LORD my God, I will praise you forever.

New International Version (NIV)

Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica

 

Some verses in particular spoke to me. I will print them together:

² LORD my God, I called to you for help, 
   and you healed me. 

⁴ Sing the praises of the LORD, you his faithful people; 
   praise his holy name. 

⁶ When I felt secure, I said, 
   “I will never be shaken.” 

⁹ “What is gained if I am silenced, 
   if I go down to the pit? 
Will the dust praise you? 
   Will it proclaim your faithfulness? 
¹⁰ Hear, LORD, and be merciful to me; 
   LORD, be my help.”

¹² that my heart may sing your praises and not be silent. 
   LORD my God, I will praise you forever. 

God took my problems and my insecurities and placed them in His hands. And He gave me confidence. But If I do not use it, then what good am I? No good, thats what! So, I’m going to make use of my new God-given confidence and live out His will. My heart will sing His praises and not be silent.

He lifts me up when I am insecure. He gives me the confidence of iron man when I need it most. He gives me exactly what I need to keep moving forward. O LORD my God, I will praise You forever!

In Brightest Day and Blackest Night…

Green Lantern (c) DC COMICS. I do not own green lantern, I am just a fan! This is a green lantern doodle I did!

I like superheroes. I like graphic novels. I like superhero movies. I like manga. I like anime. Thats just the sort of guy that I am.

Tonight I watched Green Lantern (2011). It is the second time i’ve seen it and I loved it both times. I think he’s one of the less talked about heroes in the DC universe, but I don’t see why – his superpower is, in essence, making anything he can imagine a reality! Its well good. I know that most people really like batman and superman, but I think that they should also give green lantern a chance.

The concept of green lantern is that he runs on the strongest force in the universe – willpower. (Willpower is green.) Hal Jordan is chosen to be a green lantern when Abin Sur is killed in action. Abin Sur’s green lantern ring chooses Hal Jordan because he is fearless and responsible (even though it isn’t outwardly apparent), and so Hal becomes the new green lantern. Being a green lantern, he works together with the rest of the green lantern corps to protect the universe from evil. He is weak to the colour yellow, (which is fear). But the story of the film is that willpower can triumph over fear, even if the odds do not look good. As the comic book series progresses, there are other lanterns and other colours that appear that symbolise things; an example of this is the undead black lanterns. (If you want a good story, read ‘blackest night’!) The only way that a green lantern can destroy a black lantern is by teaming up with lanterns of other colours. Teamwork is the way forward!

In the film and in the comics there is an oath that green lantern takes:

In brightest day,

in blackest night,

No evil shall escape my sight

Let those who worship evil’s might,

Beware my power… Green Lantern’s light!

I like this because it shows that green lantern wants justice to be served and he’s going to do it by erasing evil with his light. This oath suggests that even in the face of pure evil, the power of willpower will be there to fight it off. Super.

It reminded me of something. Something I’ve read. Something I believe. Its not a rhyming oath or anything comic book-esque. Its a truth.  A fact. Something wonderful.

Ephesians 1

New International Version (NIV)

Ephesians 1

¹ Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,

To God’s holy people in Ephesus,^[a] the faithful in Christ Jesus:

² Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Praise for Spiritual Blessings in Christ

³ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. ⁴ For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love ⁵ he^[b] predestined us for adoption to sonship^[c] through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— ⁶ to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. ⁷ In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace ⁸ that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, ⁹ he^[d] made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, ¹⁰ to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.¹¹ In him we were also chosen,^[e] having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, ¹² in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. ¹³ And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, ¹⁴ who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.

Thanksgiving and Prayer

¹⁵ For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, ¹⁶ I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. ¹⁷I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit^[f] of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. ¹⁸ I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, ¹⁹ and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength ²⁰ he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, ²¹ far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. ²² And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, ²³ which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

New International Version (NIV)

Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica

This is a letter to the church in Ephesus, written by the apostle Paul. If you don’t know already, Paul wasn’t always called Paul. Back in the day, before he was ever a Paul, he was known as Saul. Saul was a renowned murderer of christians and hater of all things Jesus related. And then, on the road to Damascus to hunt some more christians, God blinded him and turned his life around. Saul was well and truly converted. And then, Saul got his sight back and ended up being a very evangelistic preacher! Later, he was re-named Paul.

SO anyway, yeah. Paul starts off Ephesians with some epicly true truths. Imma write them again. Although we were made to be in relationship with  God, we sinned. And we sinned bad. And since God can’t bear to look at sin, it looked a bit like splittsville for us. But God loved us so much. And although the sin was so awful, He wanted to be in relationship with us. So He sent His one and only son, Jesus, to die to take away the sins of the earth. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace  that he lavished on us. Even though we did not deserve this, God did this regardless! He cares about us that much. And although it was unfathomably painful for Jesus to sacrifice Himself (just remember, it wasn’t just a sacrifice – this was a sacrifice – with the mess ups and the sin and the pain of everyone past, present and future nailed to Him), He loves us all so much that He was willing to do this. I think thats brilliant. I think about this and I just want to shout woop woop and do a little dance. I just might.

…

So, back to the scripture. Paul is writing to the christians in Ephesus: For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.

Thats nice and encouraging of Paul to the christians. Lets read on a bit more:

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms,  far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

Mmm yes very nice… WAIT A MINUTE!!! HOLD UP!!!

For people who are christians (like me) this is where things get awesome! Lets look at this a bit closer.

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms,  far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

So as a christian, we have a sort of superpower of our own. Its better than green lantern’s willpower. Its stronger. The same power that raised Christ from the dead and made Him far above all rule, authority, power, dominion and name not only in this present age  and in the next, LIVES IN US! WOW! Flipping heck thats brilliant! Lets woop woop again!

Think about it. Jesus, who was crushed by every sin that has ever been and ever will be for our sake, was crucified was raised back to life. We have that same power that raised Him within us. The same power that conquered death! And we haven’t taken the worst beating in history! Its given to us freely! Its wonderful! When we become a christian, we invite Jesus into our life. We apologise for who we’ve been. We acknowledge everything God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit have done for us, and just who they are. We confess that they are God. And then the Holy Spirit comes to live inside of us. This… This is better than any super-power. The Holy Spirit is awesome. You should try spending some quality time with Him. I recommend it. You’ll love it – I know I do!

Not only do we have this amazing power within us, but sometimes, the Holy Spirit can give us special gifts and abilities. Like, the christian’s unique super powers. This can be things like healing, prophecy or even raising the dead, amongst other things! Its amazing!

So, although I like green lantern and stuff, I know its not real. But Jesus is. And the Holy Spirit is. And God is. And through them, we can know salvation, forgiveness, redemption and so so soooooo much more. Through them, we can live life to the max! With them working through us, we acquire heavenly super powers! And in brightest day and blackest night, Jesus and God and the Holy Spirit are always there for us. We don’t have to face evil, or the troubles of this world alone – they are within us and with us all the time. And, to paraphrase Romans 8:31, with God on our side, who can stand against us?

My prayer for YOU dear reader, whoever you might be, is this: I pray that the eyes of your heart may be opened to the unfathomable and amazing love of Jesus. I pray that you might get to know Him and experience His power within you – the same power that raised Him from the dead! I pray that you’d find out just how awesome God is! He’s more awesome than batman! And, unlike batman, He wants to know you personally. He even sent His son to die so that you might be saved and so that you might get to know Him! I pray that your eyes will see salvation. 

Mage Preesh!

This bear looks to be Mage Preeshin' the lunchbox in his hand.

Theres a show that I like to watch from time to time. I would watch it all the time if you could get it on the TV here, but since it is an American show, I’m forced to watch it  (or clips from it) on the NBC website. I discovered this show a couple of years ago whilst visiting New York – heck, I even somehow managed to get into a mid afternoon run through for the evening’s show. It is a hilarious show called ‘Late Night with Jimmy Fallon’. Its LOLtastic. Watch it!

Every friday, he does a slot called ‘thank you notes’, where he writes out a little (hilarious) thank you to a person or an object. I was watching the latest clips  on www.latenightwithjimmyfallon.com when I stumbled across this one: http://www.nbc.com/assets/video/widget/widget.html?vid=1358143  It is worth a watch. This particular clip starts with Jimmy saying he would “mage preesh” writing out his thank you notes. It stands for major appreciation. He preeshes. He preeshes mage. He’s mage preeshin’. This phrase of ‘mage preesh’ along with the notion of thank you notes got me thinking. How do we show God our mage preeshin’?

Back when I was in college, I had exams in 2 different languages (not counting English). And before these exams (especially the speaking ones), I got pretty nervous. Well, relatively nervous. As nervous as to be expected. The year before I took these exams, my sister had got me a new testament in 4 languages for my birthday. It included the new testament in the four languages that I have studied (this time, with English included). I had read my bible in the different languages before the language exams for a few reasons: a) to calm me down, b) to immerse myself in language, c) to pick up interesting vocabulary and d) to get closer to God, but in a different language. Just before my college language exams, I found myself praying to God. But get this – in multiple languages! I managed to pray to Him in the different languages I was studying and there was something beautiful about it. And the fact that I set off praying in these different languages was even more surprising for me! Theres just something about praying to God in different languages that is wonderful. You can capture different things in different languages that you just can’t express in English. For example, in English we have one word for love whereas the Italians have many words for love.  So, I prayed to God, Jesus and the Holy spirit in various languages. And sometimes, I still do. If God has granted you the gift of linguistics and has opened your eyes to the magnificence of language, why not use it to give Him glory? Why not use it to show you’re mage preeshin’ all He’s done for you?

To further this preesh fest, I tried to acquire some worship songs in different languages, but there do not appear to be many in the languages I know that are readily available for purchase. I did, however, discover that Hillsong record some songs in Spanish. I’ve never studied Spanish though. I now own ‘Desde mi interior’, which is ‘from the inside out’, and ‘Fuego de Dios’, which is ‘Fire fall down’ in Spanish. It is nice to worship God in other languages. Its indescribably different, but in a good way. I recommend it.

Thinking about this, I asked one of the leaders at our church If he had ever just praised God in a different language. He replied with “mate, thats what tongues is”. That wasn’t what I was getting at, but he was right nonetheless. I was meaning something more along the lines of modern foreign languages. But its true, the gift of tongues is something we can use to worship God. Its a gift we can use to show our mage preesh of God. Lets look at the first time that the gift of tongues was bestowed upon the world.

Acts 2

New International Version (NIV)

Acts 2

The Holy Spirit Comes at Pentecost

¹ When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. ² Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. ³ They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. ⁴ All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.⁵ Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. ⁶When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. ⁷ Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? ⁸ Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? ⁹Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, ¹⁰ Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome ¹¹ (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” ¹² Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”

¹³ Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.”

Peter Addresses the Crowd

¹⁴ Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. ¹⁵ These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! ¹⁶ No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:¹⁷ “‘In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams.
¹⁸ Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
and they will prophesy.
¹⁹ I will show wonders in the heavens above
and signs on the earth below,
blood and fire and billows of smoke.
²⁰ The sun will be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood
before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.
²¹ And everyone who calls
on the name of the Lord will be saved.’

New International Version (NIV)

Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica

I like the fact here, that one of the first evangelistic sermons started with “we’re not drunk. Its only 9 AM! This is from God!”. But lets look at what happened on the day of pentecost. Tongues of fire came down and rested on the disciples, and then the Holy Spirit enabled them to praise God in different languages. Even people around at the time who were from different places in the world recognised these languages as their own and were surprised, as these languages were not common languages spoken by Galileans. But, by the power of God through His Spirit, the disciples were able to speak these languages, despite never having learned them. Wow! Isn’t that amazing?

Speaking in tongues is something we can do today, if we have been enabled to do so by the Holy Spirit. We often do not know which tongue we have been given – it could be a tongue of men or a tongue of angels; a current language or an ancient language. Even though we have never learned these languages, we can praise God with them. We can use them to worship Him, we can sing them to Him, we can pray in them to Him. We can use the language we are given through the gift of tongues to talk to God, just as we can use the languages we have learned to talk to Him. We can worship Him in many languages and in our God-given language of tongues to show Him major appreciation for everything He has done for us, or mage preesh for short.

Like the disciples did, worship God! Lift up His name in multiple languages! Show your mage preesh!

Flatpack Christianity

At my church, there is a certain passage of scripture that the pastor likes to quote a lot. He probably doesn’t realise he quotes it that much, but he does quote it an awful lot. He says it most weeks. I’m not saying that like its a bad thing. The passage has now burrowed into my brain and I can recall it from memory.

By now, you’re probably wondering what the passage is. Whats that? You’re not? Well, I’m going to tell you anyway! It is 2 Peter 1 verse 3. Do you know it? Well, Im going to put in the next few verses too. HAHA!

2 Peter 1

New International Version (NIV)

³ His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. ⁴ Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

⁵ For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; ⁶ and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; ⁷ and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. ⁸For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹ But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.

New International Version (NIV)

Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica

So, to quote the pastor at my church: “God’s divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness”. Just isolating 2 Peter 1 verse 3 for a moment, there are 3 ways to look at it:

1. God has given us everything we need for life and godliness. Thats it. Thats your lot. Work with it.
2. God has given us everything we need for life and godliness. You already have all you need, how dare you ask more of God! SACRILEGE! (This is very similar to point 1)
3. God has given us everything we need for life and godliness. To reiterate, He has given us the basics. If it a meal, He has provided spiritual rice and water. If it was a plant, He’s given us the seed.

I’m now going to expand on this third view. God has given us everything we need for life and godliness; He’s given us the necessities. He’s provided us with a standard base, from which we can grow. To take the analogy of a seed, He’s given us the right conditions, but its up to us concerning how we grow up.  Its true, we do have all that we need, but why should we stop there? If you just had the same thing to eat for every meal every day, surely you would search for change?

Essentially, God has provided us with a flatpack spirituality. We have the things we need to put it together, but the things we have been given have the potential to look a whole lot better than a few screws and some bits of wood.

Although we have everything we need, we can still ask God for more. If we don’t ask for more, we won’t get more! We can ask God to help us, and we can ask for more of Him, so that what we have been given increases, and we can do more for Him.

Look at it this way – we have everything we need for life and godliness. If we stop there, we stunt our spiritual growth. Think about them spiritual gifts! Tongues, prophecy, healing, wisdom, raising the dead and so much more! If we close our hearts to God’s spirit, then we won’t be receiving these gifts any time soon. And having spiritual gifts, and operating in the fruits of the spirit is a lot better than just getting by on the bare necessities. Draw close to God, and He’ll draw close to you. We can do so much more if we just ask Him for more and if we move in His power. Through Him, we have the potential to do greater things than we ever imagined.

BACK TO THE PASSAGE! So, we have been given all we need for life and godliness, but theres so much more we can tap into. God gives us his promises so that we can operate through His power. And in order to do this, we need suppress and ultimately get rid of the worldly parts of ourselves, and increase the level of His spirit within us. Let God work through you.

He can give you so much, if only You ask. He can do things with you that you never dreamt of. He can work through you, and He can equip you with some great gifts.

He can take the odd looking flatpack stuff and make it wonderful.

All you need to do is put your trust in Him, open your mind and open the box.