The PASSION Blog

It is amazing how quickly we have adapted to the country way of life. We had to go down to Perth today for a specialist appointment for my daughter.

The first thing we noticed was just how many cars there were and how long we had to wait at the traffic lights. I have already got used to no traffic lights and only a couple of stop signs in the town of Merredin.

Instead of driving for at least half an hour to work each day. I now jump in the car and drive for five minutes and I am at church. I can park anywhere in the carpark and it’s free.

Thank You Lord for calling me to a country town!!!

Hello all, I came across this Bible reading plan this morning. I thought I would pass it on.

Two weeks on the life and teachings of Jesus

1. Luke 1 - Preparing for Jesus’ arrival
2. Luke 2 - The story of Jesus’ birth
3. Mark 1 - The beginning of Jesus ministry
4. Mark 9 - A day in the life of Jesus
5. Matthew 5 - The Sermon on the Mount
6. Matthew 6 - The Sermon on the Mount
7. Luke 15 - Parables of Jesus
8. John 3 - A conversation with Jesus
9. John 14 - Jesus’ final instructions
10. John 17 - Jesus’ prayer for His disciples
11. Matthew 26 - Betrayal and arrest
12. Matthew 27 - Jesus’ execution on a cross
13. John 20 - Resurrection
14. Luke 24 - Jesus’ appearance after resurrection

If you don’t have access to a Bible you can view the readings on line at www.biblegateway.com

Hello all,

We have arrived in Merredin and our house is almost unpacked. Well apart from a few boxes that have been designated “non urgent”!!!

A couple of things I have really noticed and enjoyed is the wide open space and the quietness. There are places you can get away to and you can only hear birds or sheep or wind. It is very relaxing. One of the guys here even said I look a whole lot more relaxed than last week already!

One place I have been several times is Merredin Peak. It is a huge rock to that overlooks the town. It takes about 10-15 to walk up, but when you get there it is a great view. It is well worth going to if you come up this way. It is my new place to sit and pray. I’ve been up there four times already in the week we have been here.

Anyway, I better get back to those non urgent boxes. I will post a few more things in the next few days.

God Bless,

Dave

One of the things I love about being a Christian is that God’s heart is to speak to us and encourage us.

One of the ways He does this is by speaking to us prophetically. By prophetic I mean God places something very strongly on someone’s heart and they feel compelled to tell you. It is usually to confirm or encourage you in what you are doing and many times it is about something God has already spoken to you about privately.

Recently I have had a couple of very encouraging prophetic words from friends who I really trust and respect. As usual they were spot on and very timely.

The first was just to encourage me that our move to Merredin was God’s will for our lives. Now this might seem obvious to anyone who has been reading my blog for a while. But as we were getting close to the move and possibly a time when you might have doubts or fears, it was nice to have this confirmed very strongly again.

The second was from another old friend who simply said that I am going to flourish and really grow into who God has created me to be in Merredin. When he told me he was absolutely convinced that this would take place and said he could actually “see” this happening as he spoke to me. Again this was very encouraging to hear.

I really hope and pray that you are living out God’s will for your life and that He is speaking to you personally about what is next. I also hope that He is using other people to speak to you prophetically to confirm your next steps and encourage you too.

If you are wanting to read some articles on how God speaks to us or finding your destiny. You can click on the links below to a couple of articles I wrote several years ago.

• Are you unsure of your destiny?
• Does God still speak to us today?

God Bless,

Dave

Here’s a funny story about our moving process. A certain member of my family was ringing all the power, water, gas and other utilities to cancel our conncetions and transfer them to our new place in Merredin.

After doing quite a few disconnections and reconnections in a row. The certain member of my family asked if we could have the gas connected in Merredin. The person politely said that we do not have gas available in Merredin. It is by large gas bottle only!

I wonder how many times they have been asked to connect gas to house 300 kilomtres away from their plant. I am sure they could do it for us, but it would probably cost about A$20 million or so for the pipeline

The Bible says in James 4:8, “Come close to God, and God will come close to you…”

Over the years I have reflected on this verse many times when I “felt” like I was not walking closely with God. I know as Christians we can’t always rely on our feelings, but sometimes God does feel distant if we are honest. When I have felt like this I try to focus on drawing near and claiming that He will draw near as promised in His Word.

To be honest though, I have mostly focussed the first part of that verse while neglecting the second part that says, “…Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world” (NLT).

When you read the whole verse it tells me that sometimes God might “feel” distant due to my sin or divided loyalties. Ouch!

How about you? Does God feel like He is distant and far away sometimes? If that is the case, you might like to pray with me now…

Dear God,
Right now I take the time to stop and draw near to You. Please draw near to me. Sometimes Lord it feels like You are distant and that I am not close to You. In those times please come near to me and walk with me. Come and be right by my side. Lord, if there are times when You are distant because of sin in my life, please gently reveal it to me, so I can confess it to You and be forgiven. I desire to be found in Your presence at every moment of every day. I ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Wow I am amazed how much stuff we have accumulated in the last 11 years in our house. You just don’t realise how much you have until you start to pack it into boxes. My shed which is a two car garage is filled with so much stuff I thought would be handy one day. I am starting to think that I kept a little bit too much!

As I was packing boxes this morning I had a realisation that this time next week we will be driving up to Merredin. We would have said goodbye to our humble home in Perth, our family and we will be heading up Great Eastern Highway to our new life.

If you had of told me 12 months ago we would be doing this I would have laughed, but now the Tree Change or more precisely the God Change is really happening! I am getting more pumped by the day