May 08, 2005

Mother Teresa - The Movie

For anyone interested in the life of Mother Teresa there is a new movie out about her. Proceeds from ticket sales go to the work of Compassion. Screenings are limited so check it out!

jenni at 08:52 PM in Feature Women
Link | Comments (0)



May 07, 2005

Quote

What people need is Jesus Christ, not the Christian religion. Religion is just another futile attempt to reach God by trying to be good. Jesus Christ is the life of God in us, and no human can ever achieve it without Him. This is how ordinary men lead extraordinary lives. - Jim May
jenni at 09:15 PM in Quotes
Link | Comments (0)



Worship (this list is very long but worth meditating on)

WORSHIP IS...

...celebrating Him as our Creator and thanking HIm for all that He has created.

...the way we honour our heavenly Father and thank Him that we are one of His beloved children.

...opening up the channel through which we communicate our love to God and God transmits His love to us.

...honouring, glorifying, and thanking Jesus for all He did for us on the cross.

...not just a song, it's a way of life. It's not just for musicians and good singers, it's for everyone. It's not just 20 minutes once a week. It's an ongoing daily attitude that reminds us of His greatness and our dependancy upon Him.

Continue reading "Worship (this list is very long but worth meditating on)"

jenni at 09:09 PM in
Link | Comments (1)



May 06, 2005

Warriors

I have just been watching my last two DVDs from the Colour Conference which were sessions with keynote speaker and God Chick, Holly Wagner. One of them was a great message about being a warrior and what that entails. I thought I would share my notes with you all.....

WHAT IS IT ABOUT WARRIORS?

1   Warriors commit to enduring. They outlast the problem.
2   Warriors stay at the post (eg. post of wife, mother, friend, etc)
3   Warriors train new recruits-always (ie. one
      decade of women pouring their lives into the decade of women below).
4   Warriors know how to use their armour and what to do with their weapons. The Word of
      God is the offensive weapon. (This point came complete with the visual of Holly wielding a
      sword around).
5   Warriors stay committed to the cause no matter what. (At this point, Hollly revealed that
      a month previous she had been diagnosed with breast cancer and was in fact, not just
      speaking this message but living it herself right now). Warriors rise in the midst of
      adversity.
6   Warriors know their enemy.
7   Warriors follow orders. They know they only have to have enough faith for today.
8   Warriors know that they are part of a team. Warriors are always deployed with, and are in
      the company of, other warriors.

This was a great message and was quite a key theme from the conference as quite a few of us walked around in these "Warrior, Princess, Daughter" t-shirts with a big picture of a sword on the front.

By the way, courtesy of this Hillsong woman's blog, I can now inform you that the latest news on Holly is that she has been healed!!!

jenni at 01:26 PM in Church
Link | Comments (0)



Children and The Journey

When I went to the Hillsong Colour Conference a couple of months ago, one of the messages that was touched on by a couple of the speakers referred the question of where having children fits into our journey of serving God. The message to young mothers was "don't stop the journey to have children....but take your children on the journey" (Bobbie Houston). When Holly Wagner spoke she mentioned that a lot of people, once they have children, stop serving God. Her point though was that children are a blessing from God and that "God would never give a blessing that would take you our of His house or would stop you from serving in it". Just thought I'd pass this little message on........

jenni at 12:59 PM in Church
Link | Comments (0)



Verse For The Day

Proverbs 11:24 (The Message Bible), says "The world of the generous gets larger and larger; the world of the stingy gets smaller and smaller".
jenni at 12:51 PM in Church
Link | Comments (0)



May 04, 2005

The Best Things In Life Are Free.

Just received the best Mother's Day present from my 3 1/2 year old son today. It was a little heart booklet that he made at kindy that has questions about Mum that he had to answer. Just thought I'd share them with you....

My Mum has black eyes and brown hair. (Umm...no black eyes here)

My Mum cooks the best...lots of different food. I like noodles the best because you have to blow on them. (I hate noodles. In fact my husband cooks them because I don't like the smell)

My Mum really loves...I can't think about anything. She loves Jesus in her heart. (Awwww...so sweet)

My Mum and I like to...do drawing.

My Mum likes to wear...white the best. Her has lots of clothes. (Do I even own any white clothes?)

My Mum always says..."do you like noodles" and I say that I like noodles and Mum says thay are hot, but they're not really hot. (Hmmm, bit of a noodle theme happening here. He must have been hungry at the time!)

My Mum is beautiful because...her likes pink clothes. God makes her beautiful. (Again, awww...how nice is that?)

I love my Mum because...she cuddles me. My Mum likes me to cuddle her and stuff. (Absolutely)


Now KMart just doesn't sell any gifts as good as this!!!

jenni at 03:12 PM in Personal
Link | Comments (1)



April 29, 2005

Prayer For The Day

I was watching a couple of DVDs today of speakers from the Hillsong Women's Conference that I went to last month. The message from one of them was the call "Beloved Daughter (that's us)...Let's get better!" As I went through my notes afterwards I looked at the different areas that I had written down that we should be aiming to get better in. But, what I didn't see was the plan of how to get better.Then it occurred to me. that I could try all I liked to make myself better and improve myself but if it is all done in my own strength and by my own efforts, then none of it would last. What I realised was that any change, including the changes that help us be "better" needs to be lead by God and sustained by God. So we'd better call Him in to help! In other words, if we can't do this on our own and we need Him then the way to begin this process is through prayer. So maybe next time you're praying you might want to add in a request for God to help you get better at being a wife, mother, or friend; to help you get better at loving Him, serving Him, and being like Him; to help you get better at loving people, encouraging people, and reaching people; to help you get better at living life and changing your world! The list is endless....but lets set our hearts on getting better and being better for Him!

jenni at 02:05 PM in Church
Link | Comments (0)



April 28, 2005

Training A Child

Proverbs 22:6 NKJV says "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it".

As seen in earlier posts, Jochebed and Moses illustrate this proverb beautifully. Jocebed used her short years with her child to influence and train him for God. Years later when Moses chose to identify with God's nation and became their leader, we can see that he in fact hadn't departed from his mother's faithful teachings (Elizabeth George, The Remarkable Women of God). The question follows then, how can a mother train up her child for God? Elizabeth George, in discussing the examples of mothers Jochebed and Hannah, suggests these ideas:

1   "Love the Lord with all your heart (Deuteronomy 6:5)" - Trainng a child requires first
      that you have a deep love for God within yourself before you encourage it in others.
2   "Teach your child God's Word (Deuteronomy 6:6-7)".
3   "Teach your child God's ways".
4   "Remember the Lord at all times (Deuteronomy 6:7)" - "So in the day-in, day-out
      routines of home life you must consciously-and constantly-talk to your children about
      God".
5   "Worship the Lord (Deuteronomy 6:13)" - "The habit of worship in your life will instill a
      habit of worship in your child's life. Worship the Lord openly and often. Worship the Lord
      at home and at your church with His people."

Elizabeth George concludes by saying "Every single day counts in training up a child for God. Jochebed had only about 1000 days with her little Moses. How many do you have left? Make each one of them count!"

jenni at 02:45 PM in Parenting
Link | Comments (0)



The Time of a Mother - Jochebed & Hannah

What did these two mothers have in common? Well, both Jochebed and Hannah were only able to keep their little ones (Moses and Samuel) until they had been weaned - about the age of three in their culture. Moses was then handed over to Pharaoh's household as we saw before, and Samuel was given to God's High Priest to serve the Lord as Hannah had promised. For both mothers this left them with such a short time to love, train and influence their offspring. Elizabeth George, (in her book Remarkable Women of The Bible) points out just how precious these early years are:"If you are a mother, grandmother, or aunt, God's high calling for you is to devote yourself and your time to those children during the first few years of their lives. God has given you the important role of teaching His little ones, of informing them about Him, of nurturing them up for Him, of giving him a godly man or woman to use for His great purposes" (p.79). This is exactly what both Jochebed and Hannah did, making the best of what little time they had. However, even though it was such a short time, according to Elizabeth George "50 percent of a child's character and personality development takes place by age three and 75 percent by age five". Thus these first few years that they had with their children were in fact those in a child's life that are "critical for input and training" (p.80). In short, let us not forget the important lesson from both of these faithful mothers that "just a few years of times devoted to God's little ones makes a world of difference!"

jenni at 01:48 PM in Feature Women | Parenting
Link | Comments (0)



True Friendship

At the moment I'm reading a little each day from a book called "His Princess - Love Letters From Your King" by Sheri Rose Shepherd. As suggested by the title, the book contains a bunch of letters written as if from God about various topics. Today's verse and letter caught my attention so I thought I'd share it with you :)

"Some friends don't help, but a true friend is closer than your own family" (Proverbs 18:24, CEV)
"I want you to look for a true friend - not just any friend. Find someone who brings out the best in you - a girlfriend who is a gift from Me. My love, it takes time to build a strong foundation with a true friend, so choose your tools wisely. The first tool you'll need is transparency...the ability to see within each other's heart - your strengths and weaknesses. The next tool is truth. I am the way, the truth, and the life for you. You will discover the rewards of real friendships when you speak truth and bring refreshing words of encouragement to each other. Finally, your friendship will need to be sealed in love, girded with trust, and encircled with prayer. Remember, My princess, you must become the kind of friend you desire to have..." (p112)
jenni at 12:47 PM in Friendship
Link | Comments (0)



April 25, 2005

Jochebed

Since Mother's Day is coming up soon I thought I might take a look at some of the mothers in the Bible. As a Mum who has just recently sent her first child off to school, Jochebed, the mother of Moses, Aaron and Miriam has some timely lessons to teach us.

Continue reading "Jochebed"

jenni at 07:02 PM in Feature Women | Parenting
Link | Comments (1)



April 23, 2005

Rebekah

Rebekah was an "extra mile" girl. Let me show you what I mean. In Genesis chapter 24, Abraham is looking for a wife for his son Isaac. He sends his servant out to the land of his relatives to find the right girl. After their long journey to the town of Nahor, Abraham's servant and his ten camels stop near a well exhausted and very thirsty. Seeing Rebekah coming to draw water from the well he asks her for a drink from her jar. Rebekah graciously replies, "Drink, my lord" (v18) and pauses to allow the stranger to drink. However, Rebekah doesn't just stop here but then goes an extra mile in her service when she says "I'll draw water for your camels too, until they have finished drinking" (v19). The Bible tells us that she "quickly emptied her jar into the trough, ran back to the well to draw more water, and drew enough for all his camels" (v20). Now, we're not told how many times Rebekah had to repeat her trip between the well and the camel's trough, but I'm told that camels can drink a lot of water and ten camels who had been on such a long journey must have been pretty thirsty. Yet, this young girl was prepared to stop her own work to not just meet the needs of this stranger but to go that extra mile in her service to him. How often do we so generously give more than is needed?


(You can read more about Rebekah in Elizabeth George's book, The Remarkable Women of the Bible).

jenni at 12:42 PM in Feature Women
Link | Comments (0)



April 22, 2005

Mary and Elizabeth

We all need people who are positioned ahead of us in the journey to encourage and guide us on our way. in a message by Vera Kasevich (mentioned in previous post) she used the example in Luke chapter 1 of Mary and Elizabeth. After May had been told by the Angel of God that she would be pregant, she went straight to visit Elizabeth whom the Angel told her was already in her sixth month of pregnancy and she stayed with her for 3 months. In other words, when God was calling Mary He had already prepared someone for her who could help her along the way. Mary believed the Angel but God knew that others would have a much harder time understanding His miracle. All except for Elizabeth that is who had already received her own miracle from God. We are told that Elizabeth was both old and barren and yet went on to conceive a child. She was thus the perfect person to support, protect and encourage the young girl Mary.

Vera also made the point that often when God calls us to something we often wish that He would give us a specific plan showing how it's going to come about. Yet God rarely does that. Instead what He may give us is someone else's testimony or example. Thus, Mary could draw on the example of how God had worked a miracle in her relative Elizabeth's life in order to help her stay strong as her own journey unfolded.

Vera concluded by reminding us to never underestimate the power of having other people in our lives who are further along than us, who believe in us, and who can encourage us. These people are there as an example and a support to us, lighting the way along our journey of life. Keep a look out for them and don't be afraid to learn from them and ask for help. Also, don't forget that you too may be that shining light for someone else!

jenni at 11:41 AM in Feature Women
Link | Comments (0)



Question For The Day

Was watching a DVD of Pastor Vera Kasevich from Hillsong Church in Kiev. She was talking about how on returning to her hotel room recently she wondered why it hadn't been cleaned. She then realised that the "do not disturb" sign had been left on the door and thus, was preventing housekeeping to enter. She used this illustration to ask the question of whether there are any areas in our own lives that have the "do not disturb" sign on, that is stopping Jesus from being able to enter and help clean up the mess that He so willingly desires to. So I guess this is something we must ask of ourselves? Are there any areas where we are doing things in our own strength instead of handing them over to Him? Any areas we are too embarrassed or ashamed to permit entry to? Any areas that we have even forgotten exist and just never pray about? Take a mental sweep over the areas in your life and just check that you've left the sign off and the door unlocked in each room. It's spring cleaning time and Jesus wants to enter them all!

jenni at 11:02 AM in Church
Link | Comments (0)



Beautiful Feet

Listened to a great sermon in church on Sunday (I know, I know, today is Friday and I'm only just posting about it now.....hey, I'm a Mum!) The theme of the message was about having beautiful feet. Not in the literal sense but in the sense of Isaiah 52:7 where it says: "How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news". This verse raises questions such as do you have beautiful feet? Is there anyone that you know that will think that you have beautiful feet? This verse caught my attention at the weekend because it is the same verse that was one of the themes of the women's conference that I went to in Sydney last month. In fact, our gift from the conference was a little ornamental shoe in a gift box with that verse printed on it. So taking this second tap on the shoulder as a hint from God, I have decided to attempt to have beautiful feet in the eyes of my brother and am sending him a couple of books in the mail that I hope he will read and allow to change his life. Please pray for him......that he'll one day be glad for beautiful feet!

jenni at 08:45 AM in Church
Link | Comments (0)



April 21, 2005

Thought For The Day

I've been kept pretty busy lately trying to catch up with people and am now left with the inevitable exhaustion that follows after such busyness. However, it occurred to me recently that the people in my life that I come in contact with are part of my ministry. Thinking about my friends in this way meant that I was more likely to catch up with them instead of getting caught up in my own stuff and neglecting my relationships. It also meant that I felt more focused when I did catch up with them and less worn out. What I mean when I say that I view them as part of my ministry is that I meet with them now with more of an intention to make a connection, see how they are really doing and where they're at, and to see if there is some way that God wants me to be of service to them. I have a responsibility to make sure I do keep regularly in contact with people because part of my connection with them is that I can be a channel through which God's love can flow into their lives. In fact, I may be the only person they know connected with Christ, so my relationship with them may be one of my greatest areas of ministry.

jenni at 01:48 PM in Personal
Link | Comments (0)



April 19, 2005

A Mayonnaise Jar and 2 Cups of Coffee

Was sent this email by a good friend and thought I'd share it with you. Enjoy!

Continue reading "A Mayonnaise Jar and 2 Cups of Coffee"

jenni at 08:06 PM in Fun stuff
Link | Comments (0)



April 15, 2005

Hands and Heart

About a week ago I watched one of the sessions from the women's conference I went to last month. Since I had already shared something from this before I decided not to journal on it anymore. But over that past week one of the statements that she made at the start has been echoing through my mind. Without going into the story (you'll have to borrow the DVD off me to get that!) Donna talked about how God had revealed to her the answer of how it is that some people are able to do such awesome things for Him, and can keep on doing so. The statement made was that for the girl desiring to serve God she need only "to make room in her heart for more". I found this statement immediately at odds with my usual thinking. In my current season the advice that I've been receiving from books and the people around me has been to slow down, simplify, cut some things out, stop doing so much, etc. There has been a real focus on searching out exactly what God wants me to be doing and getting rid of the things that He hasn't assigned to me. So the concept of "making room for more" caught me off guard. However, some further thinking revealed the subtle difference in the two opposing ideas. Normally, when I am working out my life's purpose I am looking at things like my schedule and my day to day routines and assessing each activity that makes up my life. Yet, this statement doesn't ask me to make more room in my life, but more room in my heart. Which to me seems to suggest something different. I'm unsure as to exactly what, and I'm not even sure if this post will make sense to anyone else, but I've just had a real feeling as this quote has been rattling around in my head that God is telling me to get ready for something. I feel that perhaps I'm on the verge of taking on something that I just may have to make more room in my heart for...........I'll keep you posted if anything turns up!

Continue reading "Hands and Heart"

jenni at 12:43 PM in Personal
Link | Comments (0)



April 11, 2005

New Blog

We've just updated this blog page to use the Movable Type software, the same as Baggas' Blog which will hopefully be a lot more user friendly and conducive to dialogue than the old livejournal one. More updates to the pages and interface will be coming in the next few days, so watch this space...

jenni at 08:35 PM in Housekeeping
Link | Comments (0)



April 08, 2005

CHURCH: Seasons continued....

Had some of my own thoughts regarding seasons that I wanted to just quickly journal so I don't forget. Randomly they are:

1 Recognise that it is just a season and that it may end soon or change.
2 Ask yourself whether there is anything you can do to bring about a change in your current season, or do you just have to accept it and wait it out.
3 If the latter is the case then don't compare seasons or long after seasons that you can't have.

Just my random thoughts.........

jenni at 03:25 PM in Church
Link | Comments (0)



CHURCH: Seasons

Another great section in Bobbie's book (I'll Have What She's Having) that I wanted to share with you......anyone who's out there.....is there anyone out there?......anyone other than my husband and mother in-law reading this???? Oh well, I'll go ahead and keep sharing anyway. So, as I was saying there is a great section on seasons. Since I am in a very definate season in my life at the moment, one of young children, it caught my attention. Here's some of what she has to say:

"Seasons have their allocated time and purpose...The key is in recognising the season, and having the capacity to allow each season it's purpose.Therefore, don't camp longer than you are supposed to, don't resent one season over another, don't confuse seasons, and definately don't try to skip a season either...Decide to inteliigently meet the challenges of each season."

"Learn to appreciate and value each season. Each season has a divine purpose...[Remember] Romans 8:28 says, "All things work together for good, to them that love God"...[learn to] glean all the lessons, gold and victory [from it that you can]"

"Ask God to give you wisdom so you can discern what each season is supposed to be teaching you" and,

"Every season is vital to the journey" (pgs 57-58)

As you can see, I've cut and pasted the sentences together that meant something to me (hope Bobbie won't mind). I found this section useful mostly for the reminder not to resent any particular season and to recognise that it all adds to the journey of life in some way. You can find a useful illustration of this in your own life just by looking at some of your seasons past and reflecting on what they taught you, or in what way they have strengthed, enriched, or affected you as you are today.

jenni at 02:59 PM in Church
Link | Comments (1)