 What an amazing week we have just had. Bernie, Susie, Anthony and I have just been to the National MFI conference in Melbourne. The atmosphere at times was electrifying as God ‘showed up’ or as one person more accurately said, “When we noticed he was there...” God is always there (wherever ‘there’ is), but sometimes we forget, or don’t realise, but there are times when his presence is so obvious that you can’t help but notice. This week was one of those times.
We heard prophetic declarations saying that God has amazing things in store for Australia, New Zealand and beyond. Sometimes it is easy to look at all of the things going on around us and ask, “How could God do anything great? All I see is turmoil and destruction”. This week with the earthquake in New Zealand is one of those times. With all of the floods, bush fires, earthquakes that have been happening we can easily conclude that we are in the last days. In Mat 24:3 Jesus was asked, “When will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” His response included this phrase, “...and there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows” (Matt 24:7ff-8). The Bible does say in 2 Tim 3:1, “...that in the last days perilous times shall come.” However, Acts 2:17 also says, “And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh.”
We may be in the last days, but God has no intention of sitting back and packing His bags. He has a plan where He is going to “Show up”. I want to challenge you to allow Him to use you in these last days to make a difference.
What would be the outcome if God challenged you to do something amazing for Him and your response was “WHY NOT”.
Let God make a difference through you. Start to say, “Why Not” instead of, “I’m not sure”, or even “No” and see how He can use to to impact a life today.
Have a life changing week,
Adrian.
 The call to pray is becoming stronger and stronger as we see unprecedented disasters coming upon Australia in an overwhelming measure, and causing fear to grip the heart of the nation.
My question is, what will it take for people to cry out to God and; (a) When will we as Christians recognizing the signs of the times, be making ready for Jesus’ coming again and (b) When will people everywhere begin to ask for God’s mercy in our times of trouble?
There is a prevailing attitude of ‘she’ll be right’ as long as it doesn’t touch us… sadly even among the family of God. It is high time now for us to realize that we ARE our brothers’ keepers, in being salt and light in this world, and watchmen over the areas we live in. WE are responsible to be attentive to the will of God and be His voice in society in these end time events unfolding before our eyes.
On many occasions I heard it reported that the floods were of ‘Biblical proportions’ likened to Noah’s days. Are we going to see in our lifetime the prophetic words uttered by the prophet Joel 2:30-32, where he says that God will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth? I believe we should tremble at the word of the Lord in these days… taking the Bible far more seriously than is our current habit… rather than just believing what suits our preferred beliefs.
The wonderful finish to that above passage is that “Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
With much love,
Bernie
 The prayer meeting on Monday night was a time of repentance and reflection as God’s people stood in the gap for our nation which is having the worst floods for 100 and in some cases 200 years.
If we look carefully into God’s Word, we find people like Daniel praying both for himself and the nation of Israel, including himself in the repenting of sin and iniquity and rebellion, pleading with God for forgiveness, for not having heeded His precepts and judgments and for not listening to his prophets... and how ashamed we ought to be for the way we have treated our God Dan 9:1-16.
We are the people who are the watchmen for the Nation of Australia and the state of Tasmania. Ez 33:1-11 and verses 12-20 we have no option but to consider these scriptures seriously, for we are the ones who know the way of God and His Word which will judge us on that last day (John 12:48).
I believe there are too many people who have a God of their own imagination rather than the God of the Bible. We cannot do as we like. We are here to do His will and only then can we ask for the results that He promises in His word to give us.
Let us with one heart and mind live to glorify our Father in heaven doing good according to His Word.
Lots of love,
Bernie and Susie Hartog
Luke 2:13-14 says “13And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: 14‘Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!’ ”
Here we are racing towards Christmas and we are the ones who know the reason for the season. For God so loved the world that He sent His only Son into the World to die for the sins of the world.
Even as I write these words, do we meditate on the love and the cost that was both given (love) cost (His life) so that we might have life and that in all its fullness.
What amazing love and what an amazing legacy that was left for the world to embrace and sadly, how few do receive the gift that is being held out to the hurting and wounded and lonely people of the world.
How can we bridge the gap? Let all of us on purpose do something over the coming weeks that will cause people to see Jesus with skin on. As you have done it to the least of these My brethren, you have done it to Me (Matt 25:31-46). Especially at this time as we remember what Jesus Christ has done for us, can we reflect that love and do something for those who that maybe don’t know that love. Let the verses of Luke 2:13-14 resonate in our hearts and minds this season.
With much love, Bernie
Have you ever dreamed of doing something big for God? Have you ever thought that you weren’t ready to act because you didn’t know enough, or you didn’t qualify because you weren’t one of the “Big Guns”? I wonder what God would say if you used that excuse to explain your way out of doing that ‘big thing’ that He wants you to do.
When we read Acts 13, we see something quite interesting.
Acts 13:9-11 9Then Saul, who also is called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him 10and said, “O full of all deceit and all fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease perverting the straight ways of the Lord? 11“And now, indeed, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you shall be blind, not seeing the sun for a time.” And immediately a dark mist fell on him, and he went around seeking someone to lead him by the hand.
It was not that Paul cursed the proconsul’s sorcerer that is the point here, but the fact that he did it under the power of the Holy Spirit (see verse 9). Did you know that it was only 4 chapters earlier that Saul was converted. He hadn’t written all of the books of the New Testament yet. Granted he had knowledge because of his years of study, but physical knowledge didn’t do anything here. They were sharing the message of Jesus and it was the Holy Spirit that prompted Paul to say what he did.
It seems to me that waiting until you are ‘ready’ is simply excusing procrastination. If a baby waited till he could run before he would walk, he would never stop crawling. You need to start with baby steps, but you do need to start. You may be young in the faith, but then act with what God has given you. Will you make mistakes? Without a doubt. All children make mistakes (so do adults). Sometimes they need to be corrected, but notice this - it never stops them.
Appreciate the fact that there are others who can lovingly disciple you and help you grow to maturity, but never be willing to trade doing something for doing nothing.
Ask God to help you today to hear His voice do something BIG.
Adrian
Recently I was pondering over my life and thinking about who and what I have become. As I did this, I began to think more on the actual word ‘become’.
It doesn’t take an Einstein to know that the word ‘Become’ means ‘to happen, come about and arrive’ and is a compound of the two words ‘Be’ and ‘Come’.
I have often heard people say, “Twelve months ago I would not have imagined that I would be where I am today.” Have you ever thought or said that? I know there are times that I have. Why do we say those things? It is because we often look backwards over what has happened in our lives and the only forward planning we have can be quoted with the phrase “Que Sera Sera - Whatever will be, will be”, but there is no hope or direction for us when that is our mindset.
We often look in a backwards direction over our lives, but instead we need to look forward. Jesus says in Luke 9:62, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the Kingdom of God.” When you think about it, who I choose to ‘be’ today will determine who I will ‘come’ to be tomorrow. If I don’t like who I have ‘come to be’ (or Be-come) then I need to change who I am being today, so that the change will result in me having a new out-come. I can look at my past and cry with tears of regret over it, or I can remember the ‘glory days’ where things have gone better then planned, but neither viewing can change our future. Our remembering should be used to learn from, and plan for an even better future.
Who have you be-come? Who would you like to be-come? The power to change that begins with you. So does the choice. (Mark 1:7; John 1:12; 2 Cor 5:17, 21; Deut 30:19)
Adrian
At the time of writing this article, our country has just announced that our Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has stepped aside to allow our first ever female Prime Minister to lead.
My mind went to pondering the events behind this leadership change. Several newspapers announced things like, “Kevin Rudd dumped as Julia Gillard becomes Australian Prime Minister”, and, “Mr Rudd was ousted by his deputy Julia Gillard...”
If you have no understanding of politics, you pretty much get the impression that our former PM’s role was finished in the same way and as quickly as a garbage bin being emptied into one of our rubbish trucks on a weekly basis. No I’m not discussing political matters here. My aim is to challenge the motivation of our spiritual allegiance.
How often do we hear of people totally committed to Jesus one week, and then the following week their love and dedication are directed elsewhere. This “Love Change” seems to happen more often with some than a regular sock change.
I would challenge us to check our love gauges for God on a regular basis. Ask yourself, “Am I a convincing mouthpiece for God (Is 6:8)? Would I lay everything aside for God (Heb 12:1)? Whatever the cost, will I obey God (Lk 14:25-34)?" You see, like it or not, God’s leadership will never be successfully challenged. He will not be ‘dumped’ or ‘ousted’ by anyone, especially Satan. I know who I want as my Spiritual Leader. The Bible calls Him my Rear Guard (Is 52:12), my Saviour (John 4:42), the One who died for me while I was still a Sinner (Rom 5:8).
Just one more thought - if it is the actions that determine whether someone can be ‘ousted’, or ‘dumped’, I wonder who has the right to really choose with whom they want to be associated - me or God…?
Ps Adrian
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