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In this Issue
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“Where Oh Where Can We Go”
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MEMORY AND RECOLLECTION
As this commemorative season draws near our thoughts turn to Isaiah
9: 6, “Unto us a child is born, speaking of His humanity; and unto
us a Son is given, speaking of His Deity; and His name shall be called
wonderful. Our Saviour has more than eighty names attributed to Him in
scripture and these only scratch the surface of all that He is.
They are more than titles, quite unlike those that dignitaries apply
to themselves. His names are designations of His personal character and
essential being.
The Queen may be called “Defender of the Faith” as the head
of the Church of England but this is not a fact; it’s a title.
The fact is that no earthly potentate past or present has ever manifested
the character of the titles they heap upon themselves.
Christ is called Wonderful, because HE IS wonderful! With Him this
is not a title but the essence of His very being.
One task of the Holy Spirit is to make Him known in all His attributes. “This
is eternal life that we may know Him and Jesus Christ whom He has sent” John
17:3.
Anne and I wish each and every one a blessed Holiday season, and “May
the blessing of the Lord, which makes rich and adds no sorrow, be your
portion this coming year and every day that’s in it”. His
blessing is our greatest wealth, and nothing we can do can add anything
to it.
On January 21st 2010 four years will have elapsed since we returned
to NZ after 10 yrs in USA, followed by another 17 in Australia.
Our leading to return to NZ was miraculous.
Have you noticed that whenever we receive miraculous leading it’s
not because we are special, but because if we are tempted to quit
He will remind us how He led us, and that we are exactly where
He put us, and we can’t deny it. That’s why it had
to be miraculous.
We have made some wonderful new friends since returning. In particular
we want to express our gratitude to Johnie and Elaine Silich who
in tireless dedication rebuilt our website www.kingdomline.com
We commend it to you. If you haven’t visited it please do
so by simply clicking here. Anne
and I want to acknowledge Don and Joyce Dunn also for their fellowship
in Christ over many years and particularly since we
returned; and to Carl and Edith Russell for their assistance in
so many practical ways.
To all our friends here and abroad Anne and I say thank you for
your fellowship, your letters of encouragement, and practical criticism.
I have learned much from you all; it has been much appreciated.
Now some thoughts for us to dwell on in this last issue of Dovetales
for 2009.
OUR MEMORIES ARE A STOREHOUSE Matthew 5:23, 24. Exodus 22:26,
27.
Recollection is readiness. It’s the ability to lay your hand
on what is required. We know that it is in our possession, we remember
we have seen it even though sometimes we cannot find it.
We are told in Hebrews 13:10 that we to have an altar which those
who served the tabernacle had no right to eat. It is the commemoration
of His Death around the Lord’s Table.
There is a moment of quickened recollection when we come to His
Table together. “When you bring your gift to the Altar….and
there remember…tis here the Divine searchlight of the Holy
Spirit shines down upon us brightly to examine our hearts.
Most of man’s impenetrable secrets lie bound up within his
own heart.
God wants each one of us to be and let the Holy Spirit convict
us so we will dig them out; if we don’t God will. The enemy
wants us to submerge them and keep us in bondage.
A mans life issues from his heart. As he thinks so is he. Unconfessed
sin is a haemorrhage…if it is allowed to go on unchecked
it is terminal.
No man knows the heart of another save the spirit of the man himself.
Conscience is a keen quickener of our recollections.
What have you done against your brother? And Visa versa.
Let us remember it is a trespass against God as well.
Betrayal is two-edged sword; you betray yourself as well as the
one that put their trust in you.
The apostolic injunction applies to every one of us; “Let
a man examine himself” before he eats.
The Holy Spirit wants to bring to mind those sins that we need
to deal with if we are to know the peace of heart and mind that
cleansing brings. Peace means the war is over.
(I’m not talking about issues that have been dealt with.
The accuser ever tries to convict us and lay charges that have
been forgiven and forgotten by God.)
Most fellowships avoid the Lord’s Table in their services
if they can. But lamentably even when they do, they fail to tarry
there; to allow the Holy Spirit to speak to them and their congregations
personally about issues in their lives.
People will try to program their way out of impotence
They will attempt to praise their way out of personal problems
brought on by unconfessed sin.
Some try paying their way with generous gifts.
Others fast and pray away to no avail.
Many serve their way, like a kind of penance.
We need to realise that if we won’t deal with sin, He will,
why? Because He loves us, and is not willing that we should continue
to suffer the consequences of our sinfulness.
No wonder many are weak and sick and their medicine doesn’t
work?
Humility is necessary in every approach to God.
Nothing humbles us as much as to confess our faults to our brethren.
Truth is necessary in all our dealings with God.
Psalms 51:6 Behold, David says here, “You desire truth in
the inward parts…”
Sincerity in confession of sin is essential to finding peace with
God.
How can we be sure our confession is sincere unless it costs us
something more than words?
Romans 12:1, 2 “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the
mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice,
holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And
do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing
of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable
and perfect will of God”.
Lets us come before Him now, and enter today and the coming year
with clean hands and pure hearts before Him and one another.
We are told that Adam and Eve were “naked and not ashamed”.
Nakedness is not nudity but transparency.
Oh Lord may we enjoy a conscience void of offence in all our dealings
with each other, so that He can bring to us all that He has said
He will do for those who walk uprightly before Him.
Anne and I wish you a blessed Christmas. May the coming years
be the best of the rest of your life.
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