Come, meditate Psalm 23 with me!

p.s. thanks Janice for sharing this :)

Read slowly.
Read thoroughly.
Let the words saturate into your spirit.
You will surely find treasures in this! :)


The LORD is my shepherd,
- That's relationship
I shall not be in want.
- That's supply

He makes me lie down in green pastures,
- That's rest

he leads me beside quiet waters,
- That's refreshment

he restores my soul.
- That's healing

He guides me in paths of righteousness
- That's guidance

for his name's sake.
- That's purpose

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
- That's testing

I will fear no evil,
- That's protection

for you are with me;
- That's faithfulness

your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
- That's discipline

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
- That's hope

You anoint my head with oil;
- That's consecration

my cup overflows.
- That's abundance

Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life,
- That's blessing

and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
- That's security

forever.
- That's eternity

Revolution Camp. woohoo! =p

Three days. One weekend. One revolutionary camp. The beginning of a new chapter. One step of clarity. Absolutely mindblowing. Absolutely ballistic.

And the adjectives could go on and on. But no words can ever describe the way God moved, the way this camp has surpassed the level that was set last year. For this is a new season, a year of increase, and our God is a God of ever-increasing abundance, who only ever wants to pour out more and more of His Spirit, of His blessing, of His love.

And no, this isn't gonna be a blog entry describing camp. I'm too lazy for that. =p I'm just gonna share what was preached, and what was spoken during the 4 sessions we had.

Session 1: Holy and happy
Ps James Murray

Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.

Hebrews 12:14

- God is saying that ALL of us need to be holy
- Stop having the misconception that holiness is something we as humans can never attain
- Some of us think that holiness is a burden you have to push around with you for the rest of your life, that it's something as burdensome as having to push your mother in law around in a wheelchair while everyone else is out having fun i.e. we tend to think that being holy means having to lead a boring, boring life
- Some of us even envy sinners, thinking that they're the ones having all the fun and enjoying life, while we, as little perfect Christians, are stuck being prissy and uptight
- If that is you, realise that what the world is saying is "Haha, I've got a bmx, you've got a Hummer"; and you're actually envying the world for that???
- Holiness is being full of it
- Remember that temptation is a voice in your life that will never go away. Even Jesus got tempted, why do you think you won't?
- The only two things that temptation says:
"once won't hurt"
"you've already done it once, messed up once. might as well do it again"
- The reason that being full of "it" enables you to be holy, is that when you give yourself wholly to God, you'll be so full that there's no room for anything else
- Many of us don't dare to trust God with everything, and therefore give pieces of our life away to other people/to things that will ultimately leave us empty. (note that the satisfaction will be there for a moment, but emtpiness will always sink back in)
- Remember that while you try to handle holiness, grace is handling you, because His grace is sufficient. When you screw up, grace is there to stand in the gap for you.

Session 2: More than knowledge
Ps James Murray

Taste and see that the Lord is good;
blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him

Psalm 34:8

• Our whole life is full of experiences (things that we’ll never forget)
• An experience can be described but can never be fully explained
• Most people go through their Christian life hearing and learning/knowing about God’s love, but how many have fully experienced it?
• Knowledge is important, but it’s only the beginning

And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge

Ephesians 3:17-18

• A touch of heaven surpasses all knowledge and explanation
• Your role is not to explain to anyone the extent and depth of God’s love, but to help bring them to a place where they can experience it for themselves
• You can be defeated in a debate, but an experience is something that no one can ever talk you out of

When’s the last time you got a touch from God?
When’s the last time you felt Him move so powerfully in your life?
When’s the last time you felt His Presence so tangibly, so strongly?

Session 3: Whispers - hearing the voice of God
Ps Corey Turner

¹ The boy Samuel ministered before the LORD under Eli. In those days the word of the LORD was rare; there were not many visions.

² One night Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely see, was lying down in his usual place. ³ The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was. ⁴ Then the LORD called Samuel.
Samuel answered, "Here I am." ⁵ And he ran to Eli and said, "Here I am; you called me."
But Eli said, "I did not call; go back and lie down." So he went and lay down.

⁶ Again the LORD called, "Samuel!" And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, "Here I am; you called me."
"My son," Eli said, "I did not call; go back and lie down."

⁷ Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD : The word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him.

⁸ The LORD called Samuel a third time, and Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, "Here I am; you called me."
Then Eli realized that the LORD was calling the boy. ⁹ So Eli told Samuel, "Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, 'Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.' " So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

¹⁰ The LORD came and stood there, calling as at the other times, "Samuel! Samuel!"
Then Samuel said, "Speak, for your servant is listening."

1 Samuel 3:1-10

• Note that Samuel was lying in the temple of the Lord
• If being physically deaf makes it difficult for us to relate to people and hinder us in what we can do, think about the consequences of not being able to hear in the supernatural - not hearing those whispers from God and having a heart that is hardened results in a spiritual walk that is dry and barren
• Our lives are shaped by our responses to what God whispers to us
• Remember that we are communicators, just as the Godhead is in perfect communion and covenant communication

The "doctrine of revelation"

• A fundamental doctrine of Christianity, which asserts that God has chosen to reveal Himself to His creation
• Remember that you DID NOT find God. God was NOT lost! God did not need any finding!
• All revelation and communication was initiated by God

1) General revelation (available to ALL)

- Through creation

• Rom 1:19-20 - "...what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world, God's invisible qualities - His eternal power and divine anture - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse"
• Intelligent design implies and intelligent designer

- Through our conscience

• An inward knowledge of good and evil
• Before Adam and Eve ate the fruit, they were in he state of sinless perfection, where they knew only good
• Rom 2:14-15: "Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them."

- Through human history

• Acts 17:26: "From one man He made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live."

2) Special revelation: communication from God available to some

- Through miracles

- Through prophecy

- Through Jesus

• Jesus is the Word (John 1:14)
• God came out of His comfort zone to relate to us, by becoming flesh and blood
• Application: stop being wierd, diconnected and super-spiritual. Start being out there, be real, engage, because there's a world out there asking how you are relevant to them. Jesus was REAL. Jesus was LOVED by sinners. Be flesh to the world!

- Through Scripture, the Word of Life

• Stop equalizing personal revelation with revelation from Scripture
• Remember that the majority of what you hear from God will be from the Bible
• If you operate by your own revelation -> own ideology -> half truths -> cult
• The Bible is completely the Word of God, but you need to interpret it right, live it, and embrace it. Read more of it; it's where all the power of God in your life comes from, not from some other Christian book written by some other person
• Stop feeding on spiritual milk and move into the meat of God's Word and live it out

• Only 3 voices in your life: God, devil, your own
• All you need to do is check your motives to know if it's from God or you.
• And the devil isn't gonna be the one telling you to do more good, to serve more etc, so it isn't that hard to figure out!
• Everything is to lead us to a personal relationship, through personal experience
• God already knows everything that you're thinking, but so often we talk and ask so much that we forget to hear what He has to say
• In 1 Sam, the reason or God's voice being rare was because all the leaders were so busy doing. You won't hear if you don't position yourself
• Remember that God is hiding your call FOR you, not FROM you
• Do you honestly expect God to speak if you only go to Him for guidance rather than a relationship? Stop treating Him as a genie in a bottle if you want Him to move specifically in your life

4 points on hearing God's whispers

1) When God's voice is distant, you're the one who's moved away from Him, not the other way round

• It's time to crawl back into the prayer closet
• Take responsiblity for your own spiritual walk and stop waiting for another sermon, another pep-me-up

2) Don't despise the Eli in your life. You'll need them one day

• If you were fit to lead, God would've called you. But guess what? He didn't! He put that person there to lead and guide you

3) Needs a willingness to obey

• God sometimes refrains from revealing things because we aren't ready to receive it
• He'll reveal enough to let you know just the next step to take
• Remember that fruitfulness comes from obedience and remaining in Christ
• Stop asking God to reveal more if you haven't already obeyed what He has already revealed and asked you to do!

4) Stop looking for God to only speak in the spectacular

• Life ain't gonna be exciting all the time! =p
• If you think God only speaks in the spectacular, you'll miss 90% of what God is speaking
• Remember 1 Kings 19: the wind, earthquake, and fire. Wow! But it wasn't God. God came in the still small voice and spoke to Elisha, and this set up his entire ministry
• God mainly speaks in the mundane and routine of your life