There's no other word for the event that prompted this week's blogpost than..miraculous. It started when I drove past Bischopsford, the property where I lived as a child and where I used to go into Heaven from, and saw what had changed there. God then began to reveal to me a phenomenal truth about our lives..that we are called, truly called, by Him.
Monday
Watch the video. It's a little bit all-over-the-place because it happened very spontaneously and within a very emotional context...but its the beginnings of our journey of self-discovery.
Tuesday
I'm not sure if it came across in the video or not - but here is the story that prompted this week's adventure. Something I didn't mention in the book was that, as a child, I used to play church-church in my bedroom at Bischopsford, the property where I lived as a child, with my friends from school. The Lord had already told me to go and look for a church (Chapter 8) so in the meantime, I played church-church as a game after school. I had never been to church and didn't know what 'church' was supposed to be like, but nevertheless I did what I could. Years later, after I was saved as an adult, I drove past Bischopsford and saw that it had become a Buddhist Retreat. So what? you might think. Yet, when I saw that, I knew in my heart that it was my 'fault'. Does that sound weird to you? I knew that somehow that property was a metaphor or symbol of my life..I too had left the true God and followed after Buddhism and now this was reflected at Bischopsford. The Lord confirmed this by saying to me "Don't be sad. When you were a child you played church-church in your bedroom - and a church it will be". Since then I have waited for that word to be fulfilled. Did I really hear God? Did my childish church-church game really have such power in the world? Imagine my reaction when I recently saw the Buddhist Retreat boards come down and the Church of England boards go up..against the outside of what used to be my bedroom wall.
To be honest, I'm not even 100% sure myself of what this all means. But what I do know, I will share with you over this week..and I hope that you will find the same incredible joy and security in exploring this, as I did.
Wednesday
The first element of our adventure this week is to examine prophetic actions. God called me to be His prophet when I was still a child. I knew not a thing of what I was doing, but in playing church-church, I was actually doing a prophetic action. I was enacting something BY FAITH, something that God had spoken, that would later become a reality. Let's take a closer look at what a prophetic action is. The two that you are definitely very familiar with are the Lord's supper (communion, breaking of bread) and baptism in water. You might be as unaware as I was as a child, but every time you break bread and drink wine you are doing a prophetic action; you are declaring, by faith, the truth that there is a covenant made with God that is ratified by the broken body and blood of His Son, Jesus - and that you are the recipient and partaker of that covenant. And what did you reenact when you went through the waters of baptism? Your death, burial and resurrection in Christ. Prophetic actions are amongst the most powerful 'words' you can ever give. They can be intentional, in other words, you know what you're doing - or they can be unintentional, being done by the leading of the Holy Spirit without you being aware of what you're doing. Either way they will produce definite and powerful results. Are prophetic actions Biblical? Yes, they are. Today we're going to read a few examples together:
John 9: 6, 7
Acts 21: 10-12
Ezekiel 4
Thursday
Today I want to explore what it means for you and me that God is 'in it for the long haul'. I mean, can you see from this week's video that God really is 'in it for the long haul' in our lives? At the time that I played church-church in my bedroom at Bischopsford, I was an 8-year old innocent, deeply in love with God and totally committed. But that only lasted a few years. After that I was as anti-God a rebel as you can get. Yet. Yet God was still in complete control. Despite the lapse of many years, ultimately, that prophetic action still found manifestation in space and time on Earth.
I find it expressed best in this Bible passage in The Message. Please click on this link, read the passage and meditate on it - then spend time allowing God to apply it to you life now.
Friday
So what does all this have to do with your calling? Everything! It firstly has to do with your calling to belong to Him. Are you aware that you are His because He chose you? Are you really, really, deeply sure that He knows, loves sees and chooses you? Are you? I encourage you to read these verses today - they are just a small sampling of many that speak about the same thing - and allow them to fill you with joy and confidence.
Ephesians 1: 4, 5
John 15: 16
Romans 8: 28-30
Revelation 13: 8
2 Timothy 1: 9
and my personal favourite
John 6: 44
Saturday
Today I think we should explore how our past and our present and our future are all held together in God's powerful hand, with special reference to your calling, ministry or career. Spend some time today considering your calling and how you have been prepped for it. What prophetic events in your past have contributed to where you are today? I'd love to hear all about it so please share with us.
Sunday
Go to church. Because every time you gather together with other believers around Christ, its a prophetic action, prefiguring the Day when we will literally gather around him in Heaven.
I feel like we've only just begun to scratch the surface of the deep and wonderful themes we've touched on this week. I hope you've been blessed and strengthened.
Until next time..Avante!
Beautiful video this week, so real, so honest, I could really feel like I could have been there with you. Makes me want to visit Bischopsford! Thank you, I'm excited to continue exploring this week
ReplyDeleteThanks Diana..apparently they're starting a coffee shop so we could go one day for coffee :)
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