Dreams and Destruction
Africa is calling me ... I leave for the wilds of the African bush in Kenya and Tanzania in less than 4 weeks time which will be the realisation of a life long dream. I'm really looking forward to having some solitude in God's amazing creation, lying out under the African sky with the stars twinkling so brightly, with lions roaring in the distance and the milky way smiling down on me ... I'm so excited ... I can hardly wait !! I won't quite be sitting on top of Kilimanjaro ... more likely I'll be sitting on top of a bush truck navigating around it's base at a distance but who knows, one day that dream may be fulfilled too!
Funny thing about dreaming about stuff ... sometimes achieving these ideals and goals and sometimes accepting that they will forever be out of reach and in the fantasy land of zzzzz's!! Having thought about my dreams, I turned to thinking about the devastation that Hurricane Katrina has wreaked in New Orleans and how many people's lives have been turned up side down and destroyed in the process. When events like the Boxing Day 2004 Tsunami, September 11 and now Hurricane Katrina affect our world, the things that matter most are not the material wealth of those affected (or lack of it), but the relationships, the friendships and the lives of those left behind who are shattered into the depth of finality that only death and destruction bring.
It gave me pause to think about the fact that at the end of the day, material possessions really will be worthless and meaningless in the face of God's wrath, judgment and his power. It is clear from the Bible that we are instructed not to store up for ourselves treasures on earth, but rather that we should be storing up treasures in heaven because that is where our heart will also be focussed. Matthew 6:19-21 says:
19"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
At the Reach Out Conference in Katoomba over the weekend of 20-21 Aug 05, I had the privilege of hearing Sunny Philip speak and he spoke on the passage above. I have mentioned some of his teachings in a prevous posting but I felt it necessary to revisit some of what he said as an encouragement for us all. I am sure that at some point, like me, you may have felt overwhelmed by the sheer scale of poverty, inequality and need there is in our world and it is often really hard to decide where to place your efforts to meet the vast needs of so many people that are so desperate and so desolate. Sunny reminded us that our mission is not about responding to a need, but responding to God, however, he warned that if we hear God's leading and do not respond, then we should be checking ourselves and considering where we are at with God. Sunny went on to show us that our significance comes from what we let go of and not what we hold on to because the problem is not with the message, but with the messenger who betrays the incongruence of the lifestyle he/she leads and the message he/she proclaims. The problem is not with the treasure, it is with the storage and why you want it. The temptation to do the right thing for the wrong reason, is, according to Sunny, the greatest treason we could ever commit.
Dreams can be destroyed and destruction always comes at a price ... a personal price which we are often not willing or able to pay ... God had a dream that we would all spend eternity in heaven with him and he did pay the price through the blood of his Son Jesus ... and every time you share his message, you are helping to fulfill God's dream ... so dream big, dream far and wide and dream with God because destruction will be coming, whether you want to believe it or not and as the cliche says ... "All good things must come to an end ..."
Sending you God's blessings tonight ... Sweet Dreams!
Funny thing about dreaming about stuff ... sometimes achieving these ideals and goals and sometimes accepting that they will forever be out of reach and in the fantasy land of zzzzz's!! Having thought about my dreams, I turned to thinking about the devastation that Hurricane Katrina has wreaked in New Orleans and how many people's lives have been turned up side down and destroyed in the process. When events like the Boxing Day 2004 Tsunami, September 11 and now Hurricane Katrina affect our world, the things that matter most are not the material wealth of those affected (or lack of it), but the relationships, the friendships and the lives of those left behind who are shattered into the depth of finality that only death and destruction bring.
It gave me pause to think about the fact that at the end of the day, material possessions really will be worthless and meaningless in the face of God's wrath, judgment and his power. It is clear from the Bible that we are instructed not to store up for ourselves treasures on earth, but rather that we should be storing up treasures in heaven because that is where our heart will also be focussed. Matthew 6:19-21 says:
19"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
At the Reach Out Conference in Katoomba over the weekend of 20-21 Aug 05, I had the privilege of hearing Sunny Philip speak and he spoke on the passage above. I have mentioned some of his teachings in a prevous posting but I felt it necessary to revisit some of what he said as an encouragement for us all. I am sure that at some point, like me, you may have felt overwhelmed by the sheer scale of poverty, inequality and need there is in our world and it is often really hard to decide where to place your efforts to meet the vast needs of so many people that are so desperate and so desolate. Sunny reminded us that our mission is not about responding to a need, but responding to God, however, he warned that if we hear God's leading and do not respond, then we should be checking ourselves and considering where we are at with God. Sunny went on to show us that our significance comes from what we let go of and not what we hold on to because the problem is not with the message, but with the messenger who betrays the incongruence of the lifestyle he/she leads and the message he/she proclaims. The problem is not with the treasure, it is with the storage and why you want it. The temptation to do the right thing for the wrong reason, is, according to Sunny, the greatest treason we could ever commit.
Dreams can be destroyed and destruction always comes at a price ... a personal price which we are often not willing or able to pay ... God had a dream that we would all spend eternity in heaven with him and he did pay the price through the blood of his Son Jesus ... and every time you share his message, you are helping to fulfill God's dream ... so dream big, dream far and wide and dream with God because destruction will be coming, whether you want to believe it or not and as the cliche says ... "All good things must come to an end ..."
Sending you God's blessings tonight ... Sweet Dreams!
posted by Vanoosh at
5:06 pm
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