If you’re not you, then who are you going to be?

If you’re not you, then who are you going to be?

A middle aged woman had a heart attack and was taken to the hospital. While on the operating table she had a near death experience. Seeing God, she asked if this was it. God said, “No you have another 43 years, 2 months, and 8 days to live.”

Upon recovery the woman decided to stay in the hospital and have a face lift, liposuction, tummy tuck, etc. She even had someone come in and change her hair color, figuring since she had so much more time to live, she might as well make the most of it.

She got out of the hospital after the last operation and while crossing the street was killed by an ambulance speeding to the hospital.

Arriving in front of God, she demanded, “I thought you said I had another 40 Years?”

God replied, “I didn’t recognize you…”

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“That’s my king” by Dr. S.M. Lockridge

“The Bible says my King is a seven-way king….He’s the King of the Jews; that’s a racial king….He’s the King of Israel; that’s a national King….He’s the King of Righteousness….He’s the King of the Ages…..He’s the King of Heaven….He’s the King of Glory….He’s the King of kings, and He’s the Lord of lords. That’s my King. Well….I wonder, do you know Him?….”

“David said, “The Heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament shows His handiwork. My King is a sovereign King. No means of measure can define His limitless love. No far seeing telescope can bring into visibility the coastline of His shoreless supply. No barrier can hinder Him from pouring out His blessings. He’s enduringly strong….He’s entirely sincere….He’s eternally steadfast….He’s immortally graceful….He’s imperially powerful….He’s impartially merciful……. Do you know Him?”

“He’s the greatest phenomenon that ever crossed the horizon of this world. He’s God’s Son….He’s a sinner’s Saviour….He’s the centerpiece of civilization….He stands in the solitude of Himself….He’s august….He’s unique….He’s unparalleled….He’s unprecedented….He’s the loftiest idea in literature….He’s the highest personality in philosophy….He’s the supreme problem in higher criticism….He’s the fundamental doctrine of true theology….He’s the cardinal necessity for spiritual religion….He’s the miracle of the age…. He’s… Yes He is….He’s the superlative of everything good that you choose to call Him….He’s the only one qualified to be an all sufficient Saviour…… I wonder if you know Him today?”

“He supplies strength for the weak….He’s available for the tempted and the tried….He sympathizes and He saves….He strengthens and sustains….He guards and He guides….He heals the sick….He cleanses lepers….He forgives sinners….He discharges debtors….He delivers the captives….He defends the feeble….He blesses the young….He serves the unfortunate….He regards the aged….He rewards the diligent….and He beautifies the meek……. I wonder if you know Him?”

“Well, mister, my King….He is the Key….He’s the key to knowledge….He’s the wellspring of wisdom….He’s the doorway of deliverance….He’s the pathway of peace….He’s the roadway of righteousness ….He’s the highway of holiness….He’s the gateway of glory……. Do you know Him?”

“Well….His office is manifold….His promise is sure….His light is matchless….His goodness is limitless….His mercy is everlasting….His love never changes….His word is enough….His grace is sufficient….His reign is righteous….and His yoke is easy, and his burden is light. I wish I could describe Him to you, …..but He’s indescrib……..Yea!!! Yea…Yea….He’s indescribable…..Yes He is!!! Good God! He’s, He’s indescribable….Yes, He’s indescribable….He’s incomprehensible….He’s invincible….He’s irresistible.”

“Well, you can’t get Him out of your mind….You can’t get Him off of your hand….You can’t out live Him, and you can’t live without Him….The Pharisees couldn’t stand Him, but they found out they couldn’t stop Him….Pilate couldn’t find any fault in Him….The witnesses couldn’t get their testimonies to agree….Herod couldn’t kill Him….Death couldn’t handle Him, and the grave couldn’t hold Him. Yea!!!, that’s my King, that’s my King.”

“And…”Thine is the Kingdom….and the Power….and the Glory….Forever”….and ever, and ever, and ever, and ever. How long is that? And ever…and ever…and when you get through with all the forevers, then…. AMEN!….Good God Almighty….AMEN!

To hear the MP3 – visit: http://www.bryanturner.org/downloads/mp3/myking/MyKing.mp3

Or, if your want a version jazzed up to music by Scott Blackwell, try: http://www.bryanturner.org/downloads/mp3/myking/MyKing-ScottBlackwell-Clip.mp3

Holiday…no appointments

Because I am a great fan of Outlook and practically run my life around it – I have a windows based mobile phone which syncs with my Outlook. This is great – but whenever you look at the phone, it can seem a bit never ending…

…your next appointment is…

…your task list is so large, it won’t fit on the phone…

But for the last 7 days, I have enjoyed the following message on my phone, PDA and computer:

Holiday. No upcoming appointments.

Great! The only task I have to do is have a great holiday. And I did, despite Duchy Holiday (who still have not replied to me).

I went out of my way to have a good holiday. It was a decision that I made. It was a “goal” if you like. And do you know what…the office survived (I think) and business is still happening.

I would hate to be in the position again of being the only one in the company that could make business work. I couldn’t have enjoyed my holiday if I did!

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An undivided heart

Psalm 86:11,12 – NIV.
Teach me your way, O LORD, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name. I will praise you, O Lord my God, with all my heart.

What a great prayer this is –

1. Teach me your way, O Lord…because when we learn the way of the Lord – we will walk in your truth.
2. Give me an undivided heart. The more I understand about walking in God’s truth – the more I understand His way’s the more my heart must be undivided. Ignorance is no longer an argument – He has shown me His way. I know His truth. In my heart I must chose to walk in the light of that. My heart must be undivided.
3. Fear your name. Proverbs tells me that “The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, To turn one away from the snares of death” (Pr 14:27). So when I understand His ways, walk in His truth, have an undivided heart – the fear of God will be evident in my life and this will be a fountain of life to me and keep from the snares of death…a great promise to us.
4. I will praise you, O Lord my God, with all my heart. I can do this because my heart is undivided. I cannot praise God wholeheartedly if it is divided.

Secrets to reaping…part II

A second secret that I have learned in reaping is so simple and obvious, the mind boggles as to why I miss it on occasions: the 2nd secret to reaping is simply to sow.

If you don’t sow you don’t reap – it is that simple.

A farmer won’t reap a harvest without sowing seed. I should learn from that especially as the Bible talks about sowing so much.

And let me share with you another secret that I have learned where sowing is concerned – you don’t get oranges when you sow apple seeds.

I have learned to sow into areas that I am need to do some reaping in. A few years ago Sharon and I decided that it was time to move homes. We found the house that we wanted to buy – it had a sales tag of £250,000.

We also made the decision that we would give 10% of the profits from our house sale away as seed to get this new house.

Now you have to bear in mind that at the time – houses in Liverpool were sold in a matter of minutes, not weeks. If you didn’t make an offer on a house as soon as you saw it – the chances of you getting it were small.

We definitely saw the need to sow some seeds.

So we did – we found someone that was in the same situation that we were in and gave them the money to help them buy their home.

By the time that we exchanged on our house the price had dropped £10,000! We gave about £8,000 – so when we got our new house, we were £2,000 better off. Amazing really.

I am convinced that God honoured our seed (prompted by the Holy Spirit of course). We reaped a harvest, we got all the money back (and more) that we gave away, we blessed someone else and helped them and we got ourselves a great new house.

If you need healing – sow into healing. Help others get their healing. Pray for them. Give them books like Christ the Healer. Sow some seed.

This law of God works in more things than just money (but it does work with money). If you are in need, sow some seed.

What NOT to do when things go wrong, by Duchy Holidays

OK – here is my rant. It is not something that I want to specifically use this blog for…but occasionally I feel the need to blow a little steam.

Since my post about Audi (no comment from them yet) – things have been quite quiet. But today is a little different.

This morning I should have had a phone call. A simple phone call. It didn’t happen. Here’s the problem.

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The secrets to reaping…part I

I thank God that I am in such a great position in life. I often tell people that I live the life that most people only dream about.

Now I am smart enough to know that I am where I am because of the Grace of God. Therefore I am also smart enough to realise that everyone can live a fulfilling life. A life that is in the will of God. A life that completes the calling that God has given you.

If there was one word that you could use to sum up my life, it would be abundance. I actually use the word prosperity – but for some reason people have a hard time with this, so I use the word abundance. I want to have an abundance in every area of my life.

I want a marriage that has an abundance of love and understanding.

I want a family with an abundance of joy and acceptance.

I want a business with an abundance of integrity and favour.

I guess I want it all.

To have an abundance, there are certain scriptural laws that must be followed at all times. These aren’t negotiable, but are, in fact, a requirement.

One of those laws is the law of reaping. To be prosperous, to have an abundance – regardless of what area of live, I have discovered that I must practice the law of reaping. And to reap you must understand that you source is God.

It is not my job.

It is not my spouse.

It is not my pastor.

It is not my friends.

It is not my loneliness or insecurity.

My supply is from God. Him alone.

So this is secret number 1 to reaping – learn to see God as my total source of supply.

I learned this lesson well at a job that I was in. I started to see my employer as my supplier for money. In my mind, it had become the only source of money to me. I had long given up on the idea of someone putting an envelope of cash through my letter box. Sure, I believed God to be prosperous, but over a period of time – it seemed that my salary was my income. I had settled on that for a few years.

Then God one day rebuked me. How could I be prosperous when I saw man as my source and not God? A good question! I had no where to go other than to the repentance room! I changed my thinking and made it a daily confession that God was my source.

A while later, someone gave Sharon and me a chunk of money that was bigger than my annual salary! They gave us the money because God told them too. That year – not only did I have my wages, but I had a very large gift on top. That year God doubled my income. Before that could happen – I had to see him as my source.

You are not a cog

You are not a cog.
You are not an assistant or an administrator
You’re not a gofer or a middle manager either.
No, you’re creative. A valuable asset to your family and your community. A person who can make a difference to an organisation.
You are capable of having an impact, leaving a legacy, creating things that are outstanding.
You are not ordinary.
In fact, you are remarkable
Now, hurry, don’t let yourself (and the rest of us) down.

From the Book – The Big Moo.

Because the book donates it’s profits to charity, you should buy a lot of them for you staff! The book is great reading, and I have included a direct link below to make it easy for you!

Giving up one dream to have another

This morning I was reading through my note book. Progressively, I will add the key things that God has spoken to me to the blog over time.

It is always good for me to regularly re-read some of the key things that God has said – I have a habit of forgetting. This particular Whisper jumped out at me this morning…

…principally because last night we were driving to our holiday and in the car, stuck in hours of endless traffic on the M6, I began to think to myself. “Next time – let’s fly! Just need to finish those flying lessons.”

You see, last year – I started to have flying lessons. These aren’t cheap. At £100 per time they reckon it could cost up to £6,000 to get your license. Flying is something that I love. I started to fly in my RAF CCF days and even made steps to joining the RAF to fly (that is another story). I felt that God said it was OK to do and so did my wife. I had the majority. I started to fly.

Then another happened. Another dream was fulfilled when I God (and the wife, and Dan (my business partner)) all thought that I should get my Mazda RX-8. Business was starting to make a major u-turn. God’s blessing was abounding and my dream car became a reality for me.

I was quickly hit with the reality of owning such a car when I had to pay the insurance, but more importantly – the petrol bill! Ouch!

So I stopped flying. I my mind, I needed to be a good steward. At least this was my argument. Deep down – I didn’t see how I could afford both, so I stopped one at the expense of the other. One day – in fact, it was the 20th November 2005 – God spoke this to me:

“You know, I never said you had to stop flying to pay for the RX-8. You assumed that. But that is not what I said, Matt. Just so you know, I am more likely to tell you to buy a plane at this time than I am to tell you to stop your lessons! One was gives me great glory because it is more impossible that the other.

“One way has “God Style”. One way is prosperity. Which way is it?

“I appreciate the “Being a good steward” argument, but never use that as an excuse for unbelief, fear or lack of understanding.”

I thought, out of fear that I had to give up one dream to have another. That is simply not the way that God operates.

England’s tactics and my business

I am sure that I will not be the only one to post their comments on the England game last night…but I thought I would use this opportunity none-the-less.

What a difference a year makes! Last year, England suffered their heaviest defeat in 25 years, losing 4-1 against Denmark. It was a disaster. A nightmare. It should never have happened.

Then the world cup. Well, the less said the better. We should have done better – and everyone knew it. We had the talent but we lacked passion, courage and leadership.

Yet with pretty much the same team used last year and in the world cup, a year later the team was transformed. It worked like it should. We had passion, pace and a winning score line.

I know it was only a friendly – but hey, with England we need to enjoy this whilst we can!

Sometimes business can be a bit like England. It should work. It should be better, much better. So what can I learn from this?

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