Seeds of the Kingdom

The Season for Battle

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Psalm 18:34, NIV
"He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze."

Recently, I began to ponder about the different seasons that the people of Israel encountered, from the moment they came out of Egypt, till they settled in their Promised Land.

They first left Egypt, under Moses’ leadership, then walked – wandered, one could say, in the desert. But God used this time to test their faith and teach them to be dependent on Him. Then, came a new leader, Joshua, and with him the time to take possession of the Promised Land. Now, if you read the book of Joshua, you will see that it seems like a long list of battles and conquests.

It is often assumed that, once we are born again, all the work is done. Indeed, we are born again, out of the hands of the enemy, and into the Kingdom of God. However, the apostle Paul tells us to work at our salvation. Once we are saved, God wants us to regain all the territory that the enemy has occupied and stolen in our lives (with repentance, deliverance and healing). But, just like the Hebrews, we are not out there on our own. He is committed to helping us in the task, and says He will train our hands for battle. Being delivered and healed is not something that should be taken for granted. God will walk at our pace. He’ll build our faith, wait for us, strengthen us, then send us.

As Ecclesiastes says, there is a season for everything. A season to come out of Egypt, a season to walk in the desert and depend on the Lord, a season to take up arms and decide we’re going to get back everything God has given us! I believe this is true for the Church as a whole, as we have to get ready for Jesus’ return. And what is the Church, but families and individuals? It struck me whilst reading Joshua how some families and individuals stood out, in the midst of Moses allotting their territory to the different tribes. Caleb, for example, had a claim on a special territory because of God’s promise to him 45 years earlier (Joshua 14:12). There are plenty of stories showing that, whenever people rose and said “I’ll do it!”, or just showed obedience, God’s favour met them. So, each of us needs to ask God what territory He has for us to claim back, what promise He has given to us and obey!

Last but not least, you might think you’re past the age for such adventure! Well, God doesn’t see our age the same way that we or other people do. Caleb was 85 when he received his inheritance. But listen to this; it was given to him and his children “forever” (Joshua 14:9). I love watching God heal, deliver and restore older people, because I’ve understood that He’s doing it with the vision of eternity!

Prayer: Lord, how amazing it is to realize that You want to restore to me all that You have for my life. I’m so encouraged! I want to rise and walk in Your ways Lord and in what You have for me. That’s the best place I could ever be. So Lord, do what You have to do in me, I pray! I know, as I walk with you, You’ll give me Your strength. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Setting the Captives Free - Teaching CD

A New Beginning

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Genesis 2:7, NKJV
"And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the Breath of Life; and the man became a living being."

In the Bible we read of how the very first human being came into being – ‘And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the Breath of Life; and the man became a living being’ (Genesis 2:7). And I remember as a student nurse, one of the most unbelievable and impacting things that I ever experienced was seeing, for the first time, the birth of a baby. First I saw the head, then the little body, then I heard that first baby cry, and suddenly it was there, from a tiny space into a big world - a brand new little person. To me it was a complete miracle. I was full of awe for quite a few days.

There’s also something beautiful and exciting about seeing someone born of the Spirit. That’s the ultimate new beginning. This is when God breathes the breath of his Holy Spirit into our spirit and new life comes to us through faith in Jesus Christ. As Jesus said to Nicodemas, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit (John 3:5-8).

You can’t see what’s going on inside people when they’re born again, but you can see the change and the fruit in their lives. If you would really like to begin your life all over again, and leave the old life behind, turn around and ask the risen Saviour to breathe His life into you, and begin to see the world with a completely new perspective, with a clean heart, a new hope, knowing that He holds your future firmly in His hand.

And if you’re a believer and need a new, fresh touch from the Lord, ask Him to fill you again with His love. His mercies are new every morning. He can make today a new beginning for you just like a new bud in Spring responding to the warmth of the sun.

Prayer: Dear Lord, Thank You for Your mercies this very morning. Breathe on me Breath of God, fill me with life anew, that I may really know You and love You. In Jesus’ Name.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Shepherd Love Series - by Pam Smith

Peace in the midst of the storm

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Matthew 8:24, NIV
"Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping."

On a visit to Israel, I went to Galilee and saw the remains of a boat that had been unearthed after being buried in the sand on the shore of the lake, probably since around the time of Jesus. It was smaller than I’d imagined, so when I read again the story of the storm on the lake in Matthew Chapter 8, I could imagine how the waves would have been sweeping over the side of the boat during a storm. No wonder the disciples were alarmed. But what was Jesus doing in this crisis? He was asleep in the boat. Was this because He didn’t care about the disciples and about what happened to them? Not at all. I believe that Jesus was able to sleep in the midst of the storm because He had complete peace. He trusted His Father and the protection He had from Him, and He also knew who He was and the authority He’d been given.

In response to the disciples’ cry for help, Jesus said, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” The problem was that their fear at that moment was greater than their faith. Fear robs us of the ability to stand in faith in the midst of storms, and it robs us of peace. In the crisis they had lost sight of who Jesus was. They had taken their eyes off Him and all they could see were the effects of the storm and the waves lashing over the side of the boat.

What about you today? I wonder what storms are raging in your life. Be encouraged that as we keep our eyes on Jesus and trust Him with every aspect of our lives, we will know His peace – the same kind of peace that enabled Jesus to sleep in the midst of the storm.

Prayer: Lord, forgive me for taking my eyes off You and for focusing on the storms in my life. I know You can calm every storm. I trust You and ask You to give me Your peace now even in the midst of the storm. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Needing a Saviour

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Psalm 61:2-3, NLT
"From the ends of the earth, I will cry out to you for help, for my heart is overwhelmed. Lead me to the towering rock of safety for you are my safe refuge."

If I could live anywhere in the world, I could narrow it down to a few countries but one definite would have to be a house overlooking the ocean. From since I can remember I have always loved the beach… the smell of the salt air and the sound of the waves. To me this is one of the best things God created!

When I was younger every year we would go for various holidays/vacations to the seaside! One Spring we went to a beach in the north east of England called Scarborough. That particular April there were huge storms and I can remember standing high on the cliff overlooking the ocean watching as huge waves engulfed cars and dragged them out to sea! It was quite literally overwhelming!

There have been times in my life that I have felt overwhelmed. I imagine most of us have. Whatever the overwhelm may be – whether it is our emotions, realities of life, stress or the pull of the enemy – it is a horrible place to be. It feels quite like those cars engulfed by something so powerful that it seems impossible to find a solid place.

I love this verse because I love the reality of where David is at. He’s not ashamed of his weakness or his need, thinking it ungodly and wrong, he simply cries out to the Lord to save Him and lead Him to the safe place that is our Father God. This towering rock of safety where true peace and calm reside, is out of reach of the engulfing waves of overwhelm, and not attainable to visit by our own strength or cleverness.

Whether today you feel overwhelmed or not, we all still need a Saviour. We all need to know what it is to reach out for Him and acknowledge we can’t do it alone. There is something deeply significant in the way David uses the phrase “lead me”. So often we expect God to come and pick us up and do all the work for us. How opposite I have found this to be, in my own personal walk with the Lord. Even in the overwhelm, once we have acknowledged our need for Him, we still have to put one foot in front of the other and chose to allow Him to lead us to the place of peace.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You for Your cross. Thank You for making it possible for me to shelter in the towering rock of safety that is my Father God, even though I don’t deserve it. Thank You, Father God, for the refuge You offer me even when I am overwhelmed and have been trying to fix it all myself. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

What a View!

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Ephesians 2:6-7, NIV
“And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us, in Christ Jesus”

A few years ago we were ministering in Alaska – that most amazing and wonderful of American States. Not only was I able to take advantage of being there to have a ‘once in a lifetime’ adventure of fishing for salmon, in the most prolific salmon waters of the world, but we were taken in a light aircraft on the most adventurous flight of my life! I’m not sure I would choose to go again, but I’m sure glad I went once!

Mount McKinley, at 20,320 ft, is the highest mountain in North America. The summit was first climbed in 1913, almost a hundred years ago. It lies at the heart of Alaska. There is only one way that people like me can ever get close enough to the top of such a mountain to enjoy its spectacular views – and that’s by climbing into a light aircraft, equipped with skis as an alternative landing gear to wheels. As I looked at the plane on the ground, and then at the distant mountain, I did question whether or not this was a bridge too far, for someone with not much of a head for heights! But it was too late, we’d booked, we climbed in and were off!

It was the most incredible, unbelievable and wonderfully hair-raising journey I will ever take! We were soon above the snow line, flying over glaciers, made of ice hundreds of feet thick; trusting our pilot, believing he knew where he was going and how to get back; flying, it seemed, straight at a wall of rock, only tilting the wings at the last minute to escape into open air as we climbed higher and higher; finally we landed in the snow on the highest possible glacier that the tiny plane could reach. We were alone ‘on top of the world’ – it was an unforgettable experience.

As I look back on that amazing trip, and think about today’s Scripture, I realise that what we experienced is nothing, when compared with the view God gives us from his perspective, not just of the view from one mountain, but of the whole world. His perspective is not limited by either man’s aeronautic abilities or his human understandings. He is not just looking at the physical, but at what is happening in the spiritual realms also. He sees the way man, in his pride and self-sufficiency, is trying to solve the problems of the world, without reference to the only One who can give you a right perspective on how things really are.

The world desperately needs to get in ‘God’s light aircraft’ and see things from His viewpoint. But there is a problem – in order to get His perspective on things, man must first humble himself. It is only then that we can have lift-off, for the Word of God promises that He will then lift us up (James 4:10). As our leaders seek to tackle the world’s problems, we need to pray that they will humble themselves, so that they may get God’s viewpoint on things and start to tackle the real issues with the supernatural insight we get from being seated with Him in the heavenly realms.

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, that in You we have the enormous privilege of being able to see the world from a right perspective. Help us not to focus our attention only on what we can see in the physical, but to see the reality of the spiritual warfare which is pulling at the hearts of men and women. I pray that You will raise up leaders in the world who will have the courage to humble themselves, so that, in and through You, they will have a right perspective on the world as it is and the actions they need to take. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Living the Life - Book by Peter Horrobin

Chosen

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Ephesians 1:11, NLT
"Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan."

My son, Kyle, really blessed me earlier today when we were playing at a local park. All of a sudden he took great interest in the expanse of daisies that covered the grassy play area. Ignoring the usual climbing frames, swings and slides, my not quite two-year old took it upon himself to go looking for the perfect daisy to give to me. I stood watching him race to and fro amongst the patches of daisies and responded with great joy and pleasure when he finally found one that he thought was suitable and offered it to me. Encouraged by my response, he headed off again, racing around, examining daises. He rejected many before he found another daisy that he considered suitable and offered this one to me as well.

This continued for quite a while and as I watched my son, I was touched by a sense of what Jesus has done for each of us. The Bible says that we were chosen by Him. Just as Kyle turned away from his own pleasure of the park and averted his attention onto blessing me, so did Jesus turn away from His home in heaven to bless us here on earth. Not only that, but He continues to seek out those who catch his attention and brings them back to the Father (through the cross) as an offering of joy and pleasure.

As I considered this, I looked at the collection of daisies I was accumulating, expecting them all to be perfect and carefully chosen because of their beauty or outward appearance. The reality is that many had lost petals, damaged stalks or just looked as though they were dying. I have no idea what Kyle’s criteria for a “suitable” daisy was, just as we cannot understand why we ourselves, would be chosen to be an offering of love to The Father.

With such a thought, surely our only response can be one of wonder and praise as we thank Almighty God for choosing you and I, despite our weaknesses and imperfections. May we never lose sight of what God has done for us and how blessed we are to be chosen by Him.

Prayer: Thank You God that I am chosen by You. Thank You that You respond to me with joy and pleasure. I praise You and give thanks to You for saving me, despite my weaknesses and my imperfections. In Jesus Name, Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Acceptance and Belonging Part 1 - Teaching CD

The Most Beautiful Garment

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Isaiah 61:3, NIV
"[He has sent me] to provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair."

This morning, as I was listening to the news, something caught my attention. The presenter was talking about a relatively new way to ‘cure’, or counter-attack depression. It was a method called Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, recognized in the US and Israel, but still being tested in other places, which involves stimulating with a magnet the area of our brain, as big as a 50p coin, that regulates our emotions (whether it’s sadness or joy). A doctor explained that, when we are depressed, this part of our nervous system is almost non-active, hence the idea of stimulating it to improve the spirits of the patient. My curiosity aroused, I listened closely, as they debated the efficiency of this innovation.

Soon after, as I was reading Isaiah 61, the Lord suddenly struck a chord in my heart with the verse above – ‘Ashes’, ‘mourning’, ‘despair’. God was talking about depression there! He was basically saying that He’d sent and anointed Jesus as THE remedy against depression. It suddenly dawned on me that scientists had been looking for a way to improve or heal the symptoms of depression but they’d often by-passed the real, broken-heart condition of a person. This verse, however, tells us of a God of compassion, who brings real healing, His healing, to those that are desperate, helpless, hopeless (‘flat’, as the part of our brain that we mentioned earlier).

It’s interesting that Isaiah describes the contrary of a ‘spirit of despair’ as a ‘garment of praise!’ When I was a teenager I remember being incapable of singing because my heart had been so broken. I despaired when I realised how much ‘spark’ had gone out of me, and how I’d got to the point of just letting life go on around me. But little by little God’s love undertook a major work of healing in me, and one day, to my amazement, I found myself able to sing worship songs. I could literally feel my spirit breathe, and knew God had already accomplished a huge work of restoration in me. David said in Psalm 23:3, ‘He restores my soul’ and it’s my prayer that those who are mourning today should experience that restoration.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You so much for the hope that You bring to us. You’ve come to heal the broken-hearted and You were anointed by God. Lord, I pray that today You’d give me a garment of praise in place of a broken and desperate spirit. I desire to come to You because You ARE interested in me, and because You have compassion for me. Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Forgiveness, God's Master Key - Book by Peter Horrobin

The Marriage Supper

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Revelation 19:7, NKJV
"Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready."

My friend was looking for a wedding outfit to wear for her daughter’s wedding. She found the most beautiful Italian lace dress that fitted perfectly and looked gorgeous on her. Unfortunately it was far too expensive for her to buy, so she began to look for a substitute, or material to make something similar. She could find nothing. Eventually, family and friends clubbed together to buy it for her.

We’ve been invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb. There’s a wedding garment already made for each one of us. It fits perfectly and its beauty is outstanding. It’s made of righteousness and holiness, and it’s spotless and perfect. Jesus has already paid for it. It wasn’t bought with silver or gold but with His precious life-blood, so that we could go to the wedding feast of the King of kings.

Many people think that they can find something as good to wear, themselves, and if only they live a very godly life or do many good deeds, help the poor or give money to charity and missions or even fast and pray, these wonderful good works will make them acceptable for the wedding feast. But when the Lord looks at them, in those garments they’ve made for themselves, He’ll turn them away.

For the Lord will only accept and welcome those who are wearing the garments that He has purchased for them. Read the parable of the wedding feast in Matthew 22 where we see that judgement fells on those who rejected the king’s wedding garment.

We can receive the garments of salvation by admitting that our prized robes are like filthy rags compared to His garments of righteousness purchased for us at Calvary. For nothing that we can do can make us good enough. It’s only by His Grace and love that the way has been opened for us. ‘Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’ (Revelation 19:9).

Only by grace can we enter, only by grace can we stand.

Not by our human endeavour, but by the blood of the Lamb.

Into your presence you call us, call us to come –

Into your presence you draw us, and now by your grace we come.

Rez Valdez

Prayer: Lord, thank You for the garments You have provided. Help us, Your Church, to prepare ourselves and to be ready for the Bridegroom. Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Shepherd Love Series - by Pam Smith

To Be or to Do? That is the Question

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Isaiah 28:10, NIV
"For it is: Do and do, do and do, rule on rule, rule on rule; a little here, a little there."

One of the lesser known sources of theological insight is found in the songs recorded by the late Frank Sinatra. One of the best known of his songs is, ‘I Did it My Way’. The message of this song is obvious. ‘My life is for me to live my way’. However the bible says, ‘There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.’ [Proverbs 14:12]. There is only one way – the way to the Father, through Jesus Christ.

Another of Frank’s songs is, ‘Strangers in the Night’. Near the end of the song is a profound line. It has a very significant message. The words are “do be do be do”.

The message? We are so busy ‘doing’ that we forget that our Heavenly Dad wants us to just ‘be’. The Westminster Confession asks the question ‘What is the chief end (purpose) of man?’ It answers with, ‘To know God and to enjoy Him forever’. Life as a disciple of Jesus is not about doing things religiously for God. It’s about ‘being’ His precious sons and daughters. He made me to be me. The temptation is so often to forget the wonderful freedom He has given us just to ‘be’.

This is nothing new. As our Scripture passage shows, God has always sought to have us just ‘be’, but His beloved ones somehow miss the point. So He says to us all (in my loose translation), “I have offered you a relationship with Me in which you can enjoy Me and I can enjoy you. You don’t have to work for it, but just be yourself. But you don’t seem to want that. You avoid a trusting relationship which gives you real rest and peace. So if you refuse this the result for you will be ‘do and do; rule upon rule – you will collapse from exhaustion and will become ensnared by a life of ‘doing’.” [See Isaiah 28:10-13].

The very real risk that many of us take is that we can allow ourselves to be entrapped by a lifestyle of doing – and so miss the delightful freedom found in simply allowing ourselves to be our Dad’s children, and to enjoy Him as He enjoys us!

Prayer: Dear Heavenly Dad. Would you please help me to just be me. And help me to slow down from my lifestyle of doing – to enjoy you more. Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Living the Life - DVD Teaching Series

Heaven’s Manifesto

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Isaiah 9:7, NLT
"His ever expanding, peaceful government will never end. He will rule forever with fairness and justice from the throne of His ancestor David. The passionate commitment of the Lord Almighty will guarantee this!"

The UK recently had a change of government and now the nation is wondering how this will affect the many aspects of life they are familiar with such as education, health, transport, business, defence, law and order, social welfare.

Before the election each political party issued their manifesto in which they stated how they intended to improve these areas of national life. It now remains to be seen how much of what was previously promised can actually be achieved by the coalition of the two parties in power.

But as citizens of heaven our true government doesn’t change. It’s sure and steadfast, and delivers on all its promises. Its administration has no complicated hierarchy and we have direct access to God through Jesus, our great high priest (Hebrews 10:19-22).

The economy of Heaven is such that our God will meet all our needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19).

Our education is provided by the Holy Spirit who will teach us all things and remind us of everything Jesus has said (John 14: 26).

Our health is assured if we fulfil the conditions for God says He is the LORD who heals us (Exodus 15:26).

Our welfare is catered for as we care for one another (1Corinthians 12:25).

Our defence is possible through putting on the full armour of God (Ephesians 6:13).

Our security is in the hands of the angels as long as we remain under the cover of the Most High (Psalm 91).

However uncertain and challenging the future may be for the governments on earth, we, as Christians, not only have the prospect of a better government to come, but can be enjoying its benefits right here and now. Also, as we wait, we can be sharing with others the reality and reliability that the manifesto of heaven has to offer!

Prayer: Dear Lord, thank You for making it possible for me to become a citizen of Your everlasting Kingdom. Thank You also that Your promises are true and that You will never let me down. Help me to be a loyal and effective ambassador for Your kingdom, while I wait for Your return, Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Life's decisions - Teaching CD

Debt

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Romans 13:8, NIV
" Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law."

In the past years and even now, more banks and credit companies have been encouraging people to take loans and yet more loans. It feels like a quick fix to our immediate financial needs, but it soon becomes bondage. Most people are in distress and fear because of unpaid debts. Now the banks are looking for ways of getting loans paid back to them, and most people are pushed to the corner.

Recently the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, said there may be a need to cut people’s pay in order to pay the government debt and he explained the trouble that might be ahead if the debts continue to increase. He said the country must prepare itself for painful and unavoidable cuts which will affect ‘our whole way of life’. Many people have different views but the bottom line is how to pay Britain’s debts.

In Matthew 18:26-30 Jesus told a story of a man in debt and what happened to him for refusing to pay the debts. In 2 Kings 4:1-7 we read of the widow whose sons were to be sold into slavery because of debt. She only had a little oil that God used to increase her income for paying the debts she had. There are also many more stories and parables in the Bible about debts.

Unpaid debts bring fear, shame and in some cases punishment. We should look and consider how debts have affected our own individual lives and whole nations, causing fear for the future.

The above passage says ‘Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another’. Love is the only debt that we’re allowed to have. Any other debt is a hindrance to the development, of ourselves, our families, and also of all our relationships. So consider the debts you have and start thinking of ways of getting out of debt and experience the freedom that comes with being debt-free.

Prayer: Lord, I thank You for Your death on the cross has paid all the debt of my sin. I also know that You’re able to get me through any situation I’m facing now, especially with debts and other financial needs. Help me to put my trust in You for provision and freedom from debt, for only You can give me the freedom I need. Let me have only the debt of love outstanding in my life and relationships. Thank You for everything. Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Creativity and Healing - Teaching CD

Hidden Treasure

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Colossians 2:3, NIV
“My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”

The magnificent Forth Railway Bridge inspired me as a child. I had a jig-saw depicting this amazing double-cantilevered steel bridge across the River Forth, just north of Edinburgh in Scotland. I loved the picture and did that jig-saw time and time again. It wasn’t for another ten years that I first crossed the bridge that had inspired my childhood imagination. The sound of the train changed as the powerful steam engine started out across the bridge and pulled us northwards into the heart of Scotland. High above us were the great central towers that supported the cantilevered steel. Far below us were the grey-blue waters of the River Forth. I will never forget my first crossing of the Firth of Forth!

This extraordinary construction has now been carrying about 200 trains a day across the River Forth for one hundred and twenty years. More than 55,000 tons of steel were used in its construction and over eight million rivets were used to hold all the steel plates together. The bridge was opened on 4 March 1890 by the Prince of Wales, later King Edward the Seventh, who drove home the last gold-plated, rivet! The bridge is still in remarkably good condition and looks set to last at least another hundred years.

While everyone photographs the structure, and thrills to the sight of trains crossing this great river divide, there is a part of the bridge which is never seen, but which, to me, is the most important part of the bridge. Largely hidden from sight and buried deep beneath the river bed are 18,122 cubic metres of solid Scottish granite. These are the foundations of the piers which support the steel. They are unseen and unmoving, but they never stop working. They are always there making it possible for all those trains, with their thousands of passengers and thousands of tons of freight, to travel north and south day after day, year after year. It’s the hidden foundations which make the bridge safe.

Not only, as a child, did I enjoy my Forth Bridge jig-saw, but I enjoyed all the different ways in which my Mum and Dad put foundations into my life. And as I got older I realised they could only have done that for me because, in turn, foundations had been put into their lives when they were young. The foundations were out of sight, they were hidden treasure. When I was much older I began to appreciate how many other people had been enabled to cross into the safety of knowing Jesus, because of the solidity of the foundations that had underpinned the life of my parents.

As I look at the Forth Rail Bridge today, realising that it is the hidden rock which bears the load, I am reminded of a song we used to sing as children, ‘Build on the Rock, the Rock that ever stands’. Jesus is the only foundation that is sufficient to withstand all the pressures and storms of life. The Forth Bridge was built to withstand the extremes of weather that can be experienced on the River Forth.

If our lives are built on the Rock of Jesus Christ, not only will we be secure, but we will be constructing a bridge with our lives, which will withstand all of life’s conditions and enable many, many others to cross over into the safety and security of knowing the Saviour for themselves. And one generation after another will be blessed by the way you, your children and your children’s children demonstrate the reality of the hidden treasure of wisdom and knowledge that Jesus gives to each of those who know and love Him and build their lives on the Rock!

Prayer: Thank You, Lord, that you desire to build such solid foundations into us, that whatever life throws at us we will, in Your strength, be able to remain firm and secure on the one and only foundation for life that can carry the load. Help me to so build on the Rock that my life becomes a bridge, across which others can go and find the Saviour for themselves. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Get Over it!

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Ephesians 4:26 – 27, TLB
"If you are angry, don’t sin by nursing your grudge. Don’t let the sun go down with you still angry – get over it quickly; for when you are angry you give a mighty foothold to the devil."

Recently there was a talk programme on secular radio where the presenter had put forward the subject, “Why were Christians the only ones always picked upon, put down, accused because of their convictions and persecuted for sharing the Gospel, while other faiths were respected and treated with ‘kid gloves’, in case they were offended.” And he asked why did Christians always turn the other cheek?

There followed a great debate among listeners and many testimonies were aired by believers of the mercy and grace of God. Bible prophecies were shared, that in the last days Christians would be marginalised and persecuted and freedom to preach the Gospel would be halted. Even God would be eliminated from society and we were now in the ‘last days’.

One man from New Zealand phoned in and explained that a Christian, by turning the other cheek, giving his coat also and going the extra mile, was ‘choosing’ to do something positive, thus taking control, ceasing from becoming the victim, letting God take charge of his destiny and becoming a blessing.

When we are angry, hurt or offended by anyone, by choosing to forgive them we can take control according to Christ’s law of love and remove any foothold that Satan can use in our relationships. There is wonderful freedom in forgiveness.

Suffering is all part of the work we have been given. Jesus is our example. We should follow in His steps. He never sinned, He never answered back when insulted; when He suffered He did not threaten to get even; He left His case in the hands of God who always judges fairly (1 Peter 2:21-23).

Prayer: Dear Father, may I not be easily offended, but forgive willingly, get over it quickly and give a blessing in return. Please help those who have been really hurt badly by someone. May they be able to release them into Your hands and to know Your continuing peace and comfort. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Shepherd Love Series - by Pam Smith

Forgiveness, God's Master Key - Book by Peter Horrobin

Laughter

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Psalm 126:2, NIV
"Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, ‘The Lord has done great things for them’."

We recently had some of our grandchildren to our house for a meal. Whilst we were all sitting at the table, something started one of them laughing. It wasn’t long before all the family were laughing and there were tears of laughter rolling down our faces. I’m still not sure what we were laughing at! Eventually all calmed down and the children were sent off to wash their faces and regain some sort of peace. As I reflected on this I realised how good that laughter had been for them all, as times had not been easy recently.

When the Jews returned to Jerusalem from exile, the Bible tells us that they were like ‘men who dreamed.’ Their mouths were filled with laughter and their tongues with joy because of what the Lord had done for them, they were filled with joy (Psalm 126:1-3). I can imagine that after those decades of hardship and sadness at the loss of their homeland, the contrast of being restored into where they were intended to be would have been overwhelming.

Sometimes I’ve seen people experience a tremendous release of joy as they’re restored to their rightful place, having received healing from the Lord. Tears can be such a great way of expressing the freedom that healing brings after a season of sadness. I thank God for laughter.

When we’re getting weighed down with issues around us or our own particular circumstances, a dose of laughter would do us good. Jesus said ‘Blessed are you who weep now for you will laugh’ (Luke 6:21). I believe God listens for laughter to replace our sadness.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You for the ability to laugh. Thank You, Father God, that You made our bodies to express joy. Help us to be able to look at the lighter side of life in the midst of times of difficulty and darkness, and then to rejoice when You bring us into healing and light. Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Creativity and Healing - Teaching CD

Marshmallows

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Galatians 6: 1, Amp
"Brethren, if any person is overtaken in misconduct, or sin of any sort, you who are spiritual should set him right and restore him without any sense of superiority and with all gentleness, keeping an attentive eye on yourself, lest you should be tempted also."

There is an amusing clip on YouTube at the moment called ‘The Marshmallow Experiment’. A number of little children are invited into a bare room and seated at a table with a single marshmallow on it. They are told that if they can leave the marshmallow alone for 15 minutes they will be able to have two, but if they decide to eat it they won’t get another one. The parents watch from another room through a video camera, together with the professor making the experiment. The children who are able to leave the marshmallow alone show the strongest wills and apparently will grow up to be confident adults.

It is interesting to watch the different children as they pass the 15 minutes. Some just wait, some give in quite quickly and one little boy picks up the marshmallow, licks it, puts it in his mouth and pulls it about – in fact he does everything but eat it. It is a thoroughly sticky mess at the end, but still uneaten - just!

This is rather like us when we are being tempted. Sometimes we manage to walk away, turning our backs on whatever it is, other times we give in and on some occasions we flirt with it, getting dangerously close to giving way, but finally managing to resist, even though we might get a bit “sticky” in the process.

If sin wasn’t fun we wouldn’t give into it. It’s the after effects that aren’t fun, but we have an Intercessor praying for us at the Father’s throne that we won’t fall into sin (Hebrews 4: 14 – 16). May we learn to lean on Him in times of temptation.

Prayer: Father God, there are so many times when I feel tempted to sin and often I am not strong enough to resist. Please forgive me and help me always to remember that Jesus is interceding on my behalf. I am so very grateful and may I learn to lean on Him. In His precious Name, Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Follow the Radical Jesus - Teaching CD

Never-Changing God!

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Lamentations 3: 22-23, NIV
"The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness."

I know some people say that being with children makes you feel young, but my children have developed a way of making me feel incredibly old!! Whether they are asking me to describe what it was like to watch television in black and white, or quizzing me over how I survived without a Wii and the internet – their bewildered, inconceivable expressions suddenly bring back distinct memories of doing a similar thing to my parents, and coming to the very definite conclusion that they must be really old to lived without such normalities!

Getting older is a reality of life and we live in a world where constant change is here to stay. Very little in our lives is permanent. Friendships and relationships come and go over the years. Treasures can break and become lost, new inventions replace old ones, photos and memories fade, moods swing… for a human heart there is little in this world to cling and hold secure to that will last our whole lives.

Even as we grow as Christians we change. As we allow the Lord more intimately into our hearts, He changes us. He moulds us and makes us more into His image. He brings His healing, security and worth more and more into our lives and each day, as we draw close to Him, it changes us significantly on the inside.

Living in such an environment of change and growth, no wonder we sometimes judge the Lord by the same standards. Do we forget, perhaps, that He isn’t like us and this world in which we live. Although our lives and all around us is temporary and evolving – He is steadfast and remains forever. His character, His heart for you and me, and His faithfulness, kindness, mercy and grace never weaken or waiver – no matter what we do or don’t do – He remains the same.

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases

His mercies never come to an end

They are new every morning, new every morning

Great is thy faithfulness, Oh Lord

Great is thy faithfulness!

Words by Robert Davidson

Prayer: Lord, what a relief it is to my heart to know that no matter what changes there may be in my life – You never change. Your character and Your heart remain the same. Your love for me and acceptance of me is steadfast and remains forever, so my trust in You is safe. Father teach me more about You and how I may dwell in the security of relationship with You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

- Teaching CD

Be sure to follow the guide

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 00:00:00 +0100

"For this God is our God forever and ever; He will be our guide even to the end."

Morecambe Bay is an area of outstanding natural beauty close to Ellel Grange. It is also a very dangerous area where even in the last decade several people have lost their lives. Though the Bay is characterised by speeding tides, and shifting sands, every year thousands of people make the journey across the bay at low tide.

I recently watched a group of two to three hundred people of all ages step onto the sands to cross from one side of the bay to the other. They were following “The Queen’s Guide,” who would guide them through the danger of watery areas, including a river that has to be crossed, and around the treacherous quick sands that have to be avoided. To venture on this journey without the guide would be almost certain death but when people follow him they are safe. He knows the way and he has planned the route beforehand.

Like the journey across the Bay, life can seem precarious and uncertain. We don’t always know the way that we should go. Circumstances change, people change and we can reach a point where it seems life may never be the same again. However our circumstances or situations may change, God never changes and His purposes never change.

One of the images of God in Scripture is that of Guide. He promises to guide us along the best pathway for our lives. He assures us that He will never leave us nor forsake us. We can be confident that because He is wisdom and truth we need not fear whatever befalls us. We can be at peace in the certain knowledge that the One who showed His infinite love by sending His Son to die on the cross, will indeed work in everything for the good of those who love Him.

“This God is our God forever and ever. He will be our guide even to the end.” It is pointless, of course, to have a guide unless He is followed. The way He takes may not be the way of our choosing, but it will always be the right way, the safe way and the tried way.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You that You showed Your ultimate love in sending the Lord Jesus to bring me into relationship with You. Help me to trust in You, even when things are difficult for me to understand. Today I surrender to Your will. I choose to follow You and trust You to guide me even when I cannot see the road ahead. Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Truth and Freedom DVD Set - Great for House Groups

Feathers tell a Story

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 00:00:00 +0100

1 Peter 5:8, NKJV
"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour;"

Many years ago, when we lived in a Highland Glen, we used to keep chickens. They had a warm and dry home in a little run, but during the day they got a chance to enjoy the garden, pecking and scratching in the earth; they just loved the freedom! By day we could watch over them and by night we had provided them a place of safety.

But there was a problem. Sometimes one would decide that the freedom she had, was so good, that surely, more freedom would be even better. So, she would choose not to return at dusk to her safe home. She didn’t know why she needed to! However with greater knowledge we understood why this wasn’t a wise choice: the area was also home to several fox families and chicken was their favourite supper snack, especially when there were cubs to feed.

The chicken had assumed she could make herself more happy by having more freedom to ‘do her own thing’, but sadly, on these occasions we usually found a tell-tale pile of feathers the next day…not such a happy ending! Her life was gone; her fruitful, egg-laying potential was lost and no joy in greater freedom had been found. All that remained was a very tragic reminder of her vulnerability, because of her limited understanding.

The moral of this tale is clear. Many of us choose a sort of ‘freedom’ by leaving the protection of God’s watchful eye and caring boundaries, which would keep us safe. We desire the freedom to ‘do it our way’ because we don’t know what He knows! He has made a way for us to live safely, but sometimes we want more freedom, to satisfy our own desires. Perhaps we enter into wrong relationships, tell lies to cover our guilt, or watch lustful things on TV. Surely, we reason, I am free to try to get more happiness, aren’t I?

But we are moving out from the protection of the One who wants to watch over us and protect us, our Heavenly Father. He knows the consequences that we may not know…but He wants us to learn that He always knows best. We live in evil days (Ephesians 5:16) and men and women are now vulnerable to the attentions of the evil one, Satan. He has authority over this fallen world, as Jesus tells us (John 14: 31) and according to Peter, in our verse today, he prowls around like a ‘roaring lion’ - or maybe a hungry fox - looking for whom he can devour.

The good news is that God sees and knows our plight. He, Himself, is our place of safety and refuge by day and by night. He watches over us and never slumbers nor sleeps. Our obedience to His ways keeps us safe: our ‘going our own way’ makes us very vulnerable. I don’t want to end up like a pile of feathers – do you?

Prayer: Father, thank You that You watch over me by day and by night. I ask, that Your Holy Spirit would convict me when I am in danger of ‘going my own way’ so my potential is not eaten up by the work of the enemy. In Jesus name, Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Life According to the Book - Teaching CD

All of Human Life is There!

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Proverbs 1:10, NIV
“My Son, if sinners entice you, do not give in to them”

I try and keep myself abreast of the national and international news. I find that almost every day there are things happening in the world which provide powerful illustrations, backing up the truth of the Word of God. One British Sunday Newspaper used to advertise itself by saying ‘All of human life is there’. And that is a very accurate description of what you see in the daily media reports via the press, the internet and TV.

Over the past months I have been impacted by the tragedies that can happen to so many young people, as they grow through their teenage years, finding out the hard way that not all of human life is as attractive or as worthwhile as they first thought. In the lives of so many we are seeing the generational consequence of family disintegration, lack of parental discipline and dispensing with all moral guidelines of godly living. The concept of right and wrong seems to have virtually disappeared from education and training.

When one generation ceases to trust the God they were brought up to believe in, the next generation ceases to teach any form of morality to their children. The end result is that the third generation is like a rudderless ship trying to find its own way on the high seas of life, without any respect for authority or desire to learn from the experience of others. Instead of the previous generation having a godly and disciplined influence on today’s children and youth, this third generation is only willing to learn from themselves – they think they know best and will not listen to the advice or influence of others . Rebellion has become their modus operandi.

I wept this morning for a lost generation, as the face of an eleven year old girl, Britain’s youngest Mum, stared at me out of the newspaper. She had sex while drunk at a party, doing what all the others were doing. And I grieved with the parents of a teenage girl whose body had just been found in a field. Then I read a sober report telling of the damage teenagers could be doing to their brains when they get together and ‘binge-drink’. The legacy of rebellion is not pretty.

What we are seeing is a whole generation of youth being led, through peer pressure, to do what everyone else is doing, without restraint or thought of consequence. Many are being enticed to join in the supposed fun and live the rebellious dream. For many it will be too late when they find out the broken and evil reality that lies behind the enticements of the enemy. If only the advice of today’s Scripture had become their rule for life from an early age.

The enemy constantly entices people to follow him. He uses the pressure of others to lead us into things that we should have said no to. Let’s not just look at the things I’ve written about here, however, and shake our heads in disgust, but let’s take a long hard look at ourselves and see where we have succumbed to the enticements of others. Now is the time to come back to God and put our own house in order.

Prayer: I am sorry, Lord, for the times in my own life when I have been enticed into doing wrong things. Please forgive me for listening to the voice of the enemy and not listening to You. Help me, Lord, not to fall into this trap again – show me when I’m being enticed and give me the courage to say ‘No’. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Life According to the Book - Teaching CD

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Changing our thinking

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Exodus 3:10, NIV
Moses said to the Lord; ”Oh Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past, nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.”

It is no easy thing to change the habits of an old man. Moses was eighty when the stillness of the semi-desert was broken by someone speaking with a human voice, and giving the old man a most extraordinary experience of challenges and miracles. But, like most of us, Moses was not willing to change his ways and routines for something he knew and understood very little about.

The dreams of his youth had died. The realities of life had made him accept a career as a shepherd. His only hope now was for an increase in his flocks, and an occasional glimpse of new grazing lands. His horizon really did not stretch very far these days. Gone and almost forgotten were the days of his youth, with an entirely different life, bright prospects and dreams of liberating his people.

But one day he ventured out beyond the desert, and this became the beginning of one of the most important journeys ever undertaken by a man. It began with a flock of sheep. It ended forty years later with a whole nation at the border of the Promised Land. Who could even in his wildest dreams have imagined that? Only God.

But it took a change in Moses` thinking and a breaking of his old habits. That seemed to be harder than speaking to Pharaoh later on, or leading the Israelites through the desert. No wonder the Bible so often addresses our mind, and the way we think, like Romans 12:2, Philippians 4:8, 1 Corinthians 14:20, and many more. Most of the spiritual battles we fight are taking place in our minds.

What is influencing your thoughts today? Deeply rooted habits and traditions, or a fresh challenge by the Lord? Obviously the example of Moses is a special challenge to the elderly, who tend to think the best days are past. And maybe they are. Not every eighty-year old should become a Moses. But the willingness and ability to catch the Lord´s vision for today is so important to us all: To break the pull of traditions and habits, not as an end in itself, but to catch the vision of what the Lord will do tomorrow. We should not just recount what He did yesterday.

Today may be the day of an important decision in your life that will affect the lives of others tomorrow. Learn from Moses. The God who challenges you to obey knows what He is doing, even when you question it in disbelief.

Look out for your burning bush today! And even more, let God who was in the bush, give you hope and faith for things you have stopped dreaming of. With God everything is possible!

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Living as Children of the Father - Teaching CD

Guardian of my Soul

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 00:00:00 +0100

1 Peter 2:25, LB
"Like sheep you wandered away from God, but now you have returned to your Shepherd, the guardian of your souls who keeps you safe from all attacks."

Sheep are such stubborn and stupid animals and go off, following one another into all sorts of trouble. They get through fences, across roads, down cliffs and into fields full of crops. One of my favourite children’s programmes is ‘Shaun the Sheep’. The surprised look that comes on his face when he realizes that he has got into a mess once again always makes me laugh.

It’s just like me. I’m one of God’s sheep. On my walk with the Good Shepherd I can get distracted from His green pastures and quiet streams, but I thank the Lord that He guards my soul. He keeps ‘His eye on me’ when I come and go. His voice draws me back to Himself. He restores my failing health. He has splints and bandages for my injuries and leads me back into His way.

Even when problems, accidents, physical illnesses or disease afflict us He can work these things together for good. Through healing and also showing us how to deal with the roots of the problem He brings about His purposes in our lives. We never need fear what man, the enemy, or just life throws at us, for He will never let us down. He is the true guardian of our souls. ‘The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep’. He always has a way, where there seems to be no way for us.

Isaiah 53:6 says we are the ones who strayed away like sheep! We left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet God laid on Him the guilt and sins of every one of us.

If you’re not in His fold yet, He’s ready to be found by you. He knows just where you are and He’s waiting for you to accept the sacrifice of His life, laid down for you, and to take your place amongst His sheep. You will then be able to say, ‘I need never fear again.’ As Psalm 91:2 expresses it: ‘This I declare that he alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I am trusting him.’

Prayer: Thank You Lord that I can trust You completely with my life. I recommit myself, my future and all my days into Your safekeeping. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Shepherd Love Series - by Pam Smith

Fashioning Idols

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Isaiah 44:20, NIV
"He feeds on ashes, a deluded heart misleads him; he cannot save himself or say, “Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?""

It is surprising how easy we find it to fashion for ourselves something that we trust, perhaps sub-consciously, to give our lives meaning or purpose. Sadly, in reality, it’s a lie. In this passage in chapter 44, Isaiah, as a mouthpiece for God, is referring to a carved idol or ‘god’ that is constructed from the same log that is also used to make a fire to cook over. He is pointing to the obvious stupidity of worshipping and praying to something that they have made out of a block of wood – the same block that is also used just as fuel to keep a fire going!

But this word applies to anything in our lives that we allow ourselves to ‘idolize’. Perhaps subtly we end up elevating something or even someone to a place which effectively sits above our Heavenly Father in our lives. Is my busy-ness and long hours doing God’s work an idol? Does this good work become my defining objective? Maybe it is my family – my role as a father or mother which gives my life its value and purpose. Perhaps we make an idol of the pursuit of health and fitness – or the gathering of wealth to give me security.

But hope, purpose and security can never be found in the things we construct for ourselves. As declared in Isaiah 44:6, “This is what the LORD says – Israel’s King and Redeemer, the LORD Almighty: I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God.”

Prayer: Father God, would you please reveal to me anything in my life which I may have elevated to be like an idol or a ‘god’. Help me to remove false idols and live in such a way that you alone are God in my life. Only then will I experience true hope, purpose and security.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Life's decisions - Teaching CD

Living with Weeds

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Matthew 13:22, NLT
"The seed that fell among the thorns represents those who hear God’s word, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life and the lure of wealth, so no fruit is produced."

It was a year ago when we planted grass seed over our newly dug garden area to create a dream lawn; suitable for play and pleasure. With diligent care we nurtured the grass, feeding it, watering it, cutting it and removing the weeds that grew alongside the tender grass shoots. This year we are reaping the rewards of the effort taken and we are fulfilling our dreams of a place for us to enjoy.

However, there is a problem – weeds! Having felt as though our efforts of last year should have been enough to handle such things, we were naturally disappointed to find them multiplying. My initial reaction was to dismiss them with the thought, “Well, they don’t look that bad.” I had failed to realise that the real issue was not about looking good. This was about the weeds stealing space, food and water from the grass.

This is how it is for us in our Christian walk. We often start off with an amazing amount of effort being poured into our journey with God. We open ourselves up and start to dig out the weeds of our lives. But as life moves on we often feel that we have “done all that” and we just want to move into our calling and destiny under God. Yet the reality is that the cares and concerns of the world and the desires of our carnal nature continue to create such “weeds” in our lives, even as we walk along our Christian journey.

It may seem as though you never reach the end of the weeds, which is just how I feel when I look at my lawn. Maybe there is some truth in that. None of us are perfect and none of us have dealt with all that has passed that encroaches into our daily lives with God. The truth is the weeds in our lives are robbing us of a deeper relationship with God, where we receive His love, care and provision.

Being of a stronger constitution than grass, the weeds would eventually overtake the grass and my lawn would not be the place of play and pleasure we intended it to be. In our lives, if we disregard the weeds as “non-obtrusive” or “not that bad”, they will eventually grow into a more dominant force in our lives and we will fail to enter the fullness of the life, destiny and calling God has for each one of us.

Let us all today ask God to show us the weeds of our lives so that we can live in the fullness of all that He has for each one of us. Let us do this, not for our own ends but to enable us to fulfil our ultimate destiny – to be a pleasure to our Holy God.

Prayer: Lord, I know that there are weeds in my life. Help me to see what they are and to deal with them accordingly. Lord, I ask this so that I can grow deeper into You and to give You more pleasure as I love and serve You. Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Fruitful and Gifted - Teaching CD

Convinced

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Luke 24:6, 9, 11 & 12, NLT
"He isn't here! He is risen from the dead! Remember what he told you back in Galilee,... So they rushed back from the tomb to tell his eleven disciples—and everyone else—what had happened…But the story sounded like nonsense to the men, so they didn't believe it. However, Peter jumped up and ran to the tomb to look. Stooping, he peered in and saw the empty linen wrappings; then he went home again, wondering what had happened."

Why are you looking in a tomb for someone who is alive? The women who had rushed back to tell the disciples, had seen the makeshift burial preparations on Friday; went home and prepared spices and ointments to embalm Jesus. They waited until after the Sabbath to go back to the tomb. Why? They believed He was dead!

Two disciples had left Jerusalem and were walking to Emmaus. Why? They believed He was dead!

The women were puzzled by what they saw at the tomb. Why? They believed He was dead! The disciples thought their story was nonsense. Why? They believed He was dead!

In their grief they had forgotten that He had told them that the Son of Man would be crucified and that He would rise again the third day! They had seen Him die! They believed He was dead!

However, Peter, in spite of his grief and more importantly his devastating feelings of failure and shame, went home to investigate; to wonder about; to ponder deeply what had happened. He was convinced. Convinced about what? Convinced of the Resurrection! Jesus was alive!

That made all the difference. Because of Jesus’ statement that He would rise again on the third day, Peter could now believe that everything else Jesus said was true. Everything about kingdom, forgiveness, His presence with us as Shepherd-King, about call and destiny and eternity were true.

Eight weeks later we see the former coward preach a message that warranted a death sentence and three thousand embraced the Messiah that day. Why? How? Peter was convinced of the resurrection. Because of the truth of the resurrection his world and ours changed forever.

I impact my world to the degree that I am convinced of the resurrection. I walk in destiny to the degree that I walk in the truth and the power of the resurrection.

Are you convinced?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, I desire to know You and the power of Your Resurrection. Father, I believe in Your Son, help me in my places of unbelief and doubt. Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Frida - Testimony of Frida Gashumba from Rwanda

The Tenth Commandment

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Mon, 31 May 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Exodus 20:17, NIV
"You shall not covet your neighbour’s house. You shall not covet your neighbour’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbour."

I looked up in the Oxford dictionary the word COVET and found the meaning to be; ‘To want something very much, especially something that belongs to somebody else.’

The pressure in the world’s media today, amongst other things, is for the latest model of car, the best trend in clothes, the newest fashion in designer clothes and who is the richest and the most famous celebrity. The pictures in newspapers and magazines are used to advertise these things for people to desire and buy.

All these things are not all bad, but the attitudes of our hearts towards these things could be sinful. What goes on in your mind when you see someone with the latest car, a new house, clothes and other things, that you really want to have? What is your attitude towards wanting these things?

The tenth commandment gives us a guideline on what we should not do. We should not covet things that belong to other people. Then what should we do instead? Luke 11:9 says “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” God knows your needs and desires and He satisfies the desires of all living things. Look to Him and He will give you all you need. Psalm 37:4 says; ‘Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.’

Prayer: Thank You Father for You care about me and my needs and desires. Forgive me where I have coveted other peoples’ belongings. Help me to look to You and trust You for my needs. Thank You Lord. Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Upside Down Thinking!

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Sun, 30 May 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Isaiah 29:16, NIV
"You turn things upside down, as if the potter were thought to be like the clay! Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, “He did not make me”? Can the pot say of the potter, “He knows nothing”? "

Imagine this scene! A famous artist spends weeks, probably months, carefully constructing with his brushes a beautiful painting on a canvas. Little by little the image takes shape, the colours of the background and then the detail of the foreground emerge. Then, when it is finished, and the picture is finally unveiled for all to see, people are amazed at its beauty. Who gets the praise? The picture or the artist?

What a stupid question, you may well say! The artist created the painting, he gets the accolades from all the critics who marvel at his workmanship. No-one congratulates the painting on creating itself. All the praise, rightfully, goes to the artist for what he has done. Isaiah poses a similar situation in respect of a pot having been made by a potter. The vessel cannot say to the potter that you did not make me. Or tell the potter, “You know nothing”!

But the arrogance of man is such that instead of science being seen for what it is – an amazing journey of discovery of the incredible world that God has made – the underlying belief of many scientists, especially those who influence education and the media, is that the world made itself without the aid of a creator! I’ve not noticed any of these famous names walking into an art gallery and congratulating a painting on having painted itself or telling a pot how well it made itself.

I do find it hard to understand how such wise men, who wouldn’t be so stupid as to say such things to a painting or a pot, are so blinded to the fact that that is exactly what they are saying to the universe and everything in it. I believe that God shakes his head in disbelief at the supreme arrogance and ignorance of otherwise clever men and women, who are like a pot saying to the potter, “You know nothing!”

Prayer: Lord, I ask that you will open the eyes of men and women to recognise who you are, so that when they see the amazing pictures you have created for us to enjoy, they will once again worship the Artist and not just praise His paintings. In Jesus Name, Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Healing through Deliverance - Book by Peter Horrobin

Lot

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Sat, 29 May 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Genesis 13: 11 – 13, Amp
"Then Lot chose for himself all the Jordan Valley............and moved his tent as far as Sodom and dwelt there. But the men of Sodom were wicked and exceedingly great sinners against the Lord."

Our younger daughter has recently returned from a cycling trip to Jordan, where, among many wonderful sights, she saw the ‘Pillar of Salt’, or what is reputed to be the pillar that Mrs Lot was turned into when she looked back at the destruction of Sodom (Genesis 19:26).

Lot must have thought that he was making a wise, if selfish, choice when he decided to go into the fertile Jordan valley, as he and his uncle, Abram separated. But it appears that Sodom’s reputation was already well established, so Lot was taking a grave risk by pitching his tent nearby and it ended in disaster for his family.

The ‘world’ seemed very attractive to Lot, as it seems to us on occasions. Paul tells us not to be conformed to the patterns of this world (Romans 12: 2) and John writes: “Do not love or cherish the world or the things that are in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in him” (1 John 2: 15). It is easy for us to be seduced by the world and drawn away from God, particularly in the West where materialism is so often the focus.

Most of us are surrounded by hundreds of things we don’t actually need. Maybe it’s time to do a bit of spring-cleaning and refocus on God.

Prayer: Dearest Father, Please forgive me that I sometimes allow myself to be drawn away from You by the seductive things in the world. Thank You for Your wonderful generosity to me but please help me to focus on my actual needs and not my wants. In Jesus name, Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

As in the Days of Noah - Teaching CD by Johannes Facius

Fathering

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Fri, 28 May 2010 00:00:00 +0100

1 Corinthians 4:15, NKJV
"For though you have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; for I have begotten you in Christ Jesus through the gospel. "

I find good Christian teaching all around me. It’s on radio and TV, the internet, on CD and DVD. There are whole bookshops dedicated to nothing but Christian books covering every conceivable aspect of life. There are seminars, conferences, Bible schools, ministry schools, training courses, rallies and meetings, enough to fill my every waking moment. In the churches there are sermons, homilies, exhortations, with Bible studies, meetings and discussion groups for people of every age and inclination. For Christian teaching I think we must be the best-instructed generation that there has ever been, and I praise God for this.

But I wonder how many of us have ever had a godly father-figure (or mother-figure), as the Corinthian Christians had in the Apostle Paul? Did we have a mentor who trained us in faith and in godly character? Did we have someone we could turn to with the most personal questions and confessions? Did we have someone who had the right to ask us the closest details about our Christian walk, with all its victories and defeats?

I believe all of us as Christians need this kind of spiritual parenting or mentoring. And once we’re mature enough in the faith God will call us to be that kind of spiritual parent to someone else. It’s an awesome role to fulfil, and one which does place heavy demands upon our time, but it brings the great reward of seeing the next generation of Christians grow to take their place in God’s Kingdom.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, I love to hear Your voice as You speak into my life, but I love to hear wise and loving counsel from others as well. Please bring into my life a mentor, a parent-figure who can guide me in Your ways. Show me too if You want to use me this way for somebody else. Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Living the Life - Book by Peter Horrobin

Surely God is with You

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Thu, 27 May 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Isaiah 45:14b, NIV
"They will bow before you and plead with you, saying, ‘Surely God is with you, and there is no other; there is no other god.’"

What an amazing prospect! Someone who doesn’t know our Heavenly Father, perhaps even believing in another ‘god’ – comes to me in an attitude of surrendered openness – at the same time both responding and seeking.

Responding - to what they’ve seen in my life – “we see that God is with you”.

Seeking – they want to know my God; for they now see that He is the only God.

Here’s the question I asked myself in response to this passage. “How might someone notice that God is with me?”

In the context of this chapter of Isaiah, directed towards God’s people, we find that the answer lies not in what I can do for Him, but rather it’s found in how I respond to Him.

Israel has been unfaithful to God – idols, alliances with the nations, rebelliousness and unrighteous behavior. God has brought calamity upon them to draw them to repentance – so that He may restore them to Himself. In the response of turning back to Him and trusting the One who loves them, they will see the awesome power of the Lord, the only God, at work in redeeming His beloved.

As I trust Him and live closely with Him, no matter what the circumstances may be at any given moment, the outcome will clearly be on view to others. There will be the fruit of the Spirit sprouting in my life – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self control. “Ah”, they will respond, “we see God is with you – He is the only God.”

Prayer: Father God, thank You that You are always with me. I want others to see that. I want to produce good fruit as I respond to Your love for me. May others see You at work in me so that they may declare that You alone are God and come to acknowledge You as their Lord and God. Through Jesus Christ, Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Evangelism and Healing - Teaching CD

You are Christ’s Body

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Wed, 26 May 2010 00:00:00 +0100

1 Corinthians 12:27, GNB
"All of you are Christ's body, and each one is a part of it."

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about being part of Christ’s body. I’ve come to realise in a new way that, as well as having a personal identity, I also have a new corporate identity, along with millions of other followers of Jesus, as the living body that daily demonstrates the authority, power and character of Christ on earth. Increasingly I’m understanding that we are not like a body; we are His body.

This is an awesome thought! Jesus Christ, the One to whom all authority has been given, has chosen to operate, by the Spirit, through me and everyone else who has received Him as Lord of their lives. What a privilege! What a challenge! What a responsibility to surrender my will to His will each day.

If I can really let Jesus have His way through that bit of His body which I represent, then a part of His Kingdom truly can come on earth as it is in heaven. Together with all the other parts, working in right order with each other, there should be no limit to what God could do in this desperate world.

No doubt the enemy hates the thought of this body of Christ exercising rightful and effective authority and power in a world over which Satan has been given rule, through sin. However, if I and all the other parts of the body let Jesus truly have His way and if we look for the Spirit to distribute the necessary gifting, surely miracles will follow. What an adventure!

Prayer: Jesus, You have entrusted to me and all the other parts of Your body on earth, the opportunity to let You operate through each one of us in order to establish Your Kingdom. I am ready to do my bit today. Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

God's Covering - Book by David Cross

Hidden Treasure

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Tue, 25 May 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Proverbs 2:4 –5, NKJV
"If you seek her as silver, And search for her as hidden treasures; Then you will understand the fear of the LORD, And find the knowledge of God."

King Solomon writes about wisdom as a hidden treasure, and tells us how to find it. Proverbs 2:6 in the Living Bible says that by listening to the Word of the Lord, we gain the knowledge and understanding of how to apply it; ‘His every word is a treasure of knowledge and understanding.’

My son has just bought himself a metal detector, and is off to find hidden treasure. He will listen to the signals it gives and will then dig deep, hoping to discover some buried or lost treasure.

As we listen and dig deep, God says, ‘And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart’; Jeremiah 29:13. If we are really serious and wholehearted about finding God, we will not be disappointed. He promises we will find him. The Book of Proverbs is full of God’s signals and how to ‘dig deep’. Some people would like to find God, but they never get round to really looking for him. It is foolish to despise wisdom for this can destroy you. The fear (or reverence) of God is the beginning of wisdom; Proverbs 9:10.

When we have found our ‘hidden treasure’, (Jesus) and understand His amazing love, mercy and grace, like the man who sold everything he owned, to buy the pearl of great price, we will realize the matchless worth of the Saviour, and in the light of this glorious revelation we will hold Christ, as the Treasure in our hearts.

Jesus is our wisdom. 1 Corinthians 1:30 says, ‘He is the source of life in Christ Jesus, whom God made to us our wisdom, our righteousness and sanctification and redemption.'

"Wisdom, righteousness and power, Holiness forevermore. My redemption, full and sure. He is all I need." As Charles P.Jones wrote in 1906.

Prayer: Thank You Lord, that You are everything that we need. May we grow more and more in Your wisdom as we listen to Your voice. In Jesus Name. Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Shepherd Love Series - by Pam Smith

The Integrity of Job

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Mon, 24 May 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Job 28:12, ESV
"But where shall wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding?"

Job was a man who did his best to follow God. ‘My foot has held fast to his steps;

I have kept his way and have not turned aside. I have not departed from the commandment of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my portion of food’ (Job 23:11-12).

He attempted to be morally pure, to look after the poor, widows and orphans, to avoid greed and idolatrous worship, to never wish anyone harm (even his enemies) and to behave with integrity in his position as a wealthy land owner. He knew how to pray and always interceded for his family.

He had to go through the biggest test imaginable as Satan tried to prove that Job wouldn’t maintain his character in the face of extreme suffering. Satan attacked him over and over again through the accusations of his family and friends. His friends increased Job’s suffering instead of bringing him any comfort, as they refused to believe he wasn’t a secret sinner who was being justly punished by God.

I think the essence of Job’s story was overcoming the temptation to think that fearing God was a waste of time and that God didn’t really love Him. Just before he had a life changing encounter with God he cried out the question ‘But where shall wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding?’ There was only one answer and Job affirmed that wisdom could only be attained by hearing the words of God. ‘God understands the way to it, and he knows its place...he established it, and searched it out. And he said to man, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding’’ (Job 28:23-28).

Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, when we go through hard times and suffering may we still cry out to You for the answers and not turn away from You in despair. We pray we can maintain our faith in You, even when others bring confusing messages to us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Life According to the Book - Teaching CD

Satan’s Traps!

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Sun, 23 May 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Proverbs 16:25, NIV
“There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death."

Rabbits have been eating all the best plants in our garden. I love seeing the rabbits, but they are doing a lot of damage. So I went on-line the other day to look for a rabbit trap. I found exactly what I wanted – a trap that would lure the rabbit into a small cage, then a gate would spring into place trapping the rabbit inside. On the same website I saw a modern mouse trap. In this particular trap, some attractively smelling bait is used to lure the mouse into a dark hole. The bait is positioned on a spike between two electrified points and as the mouse gets hold of the bait with its mouth a powerful electric shock kills the creature instantly.

Both the mouse and the rabbit trap depend on the fact that neither animal has any idea what’s going to happen next. All they are doing is following their instinct to look for food – and unfortunately for them, they are looking in a dangerous place. If they knew what the end would be, they wouldn’t dare venture into such dangerous territory.

Proverbs 3:7 warns us not to be wise in our own eyes, thinking that we know what we’re doing and don’t need to take advice from others, and especially from God and His Word. The problem with human wisdom, that is separated from the wisdom of God, is that all too often we get it so very wrong. The enemy has had thousands of years of practice learning how to deceive human beings into his traps. If you’ve never read ‘The Screwtape Letters’ by C.S.Lewis, please get hold of a copy and read it carefully. It is an amazing masterpiece of very remarkable writing, which exposes the ways in which Satan lures mankind into his carefully engineered ‘people-trap’.

Being in the ministry of healing and discipleship has, sadly, given me many, many opportunities of hearing the stories, from men and women all over the world, of how they were lured into wrong relationships, or to put their money into crooked business deals, or into occult practices or dozens of other different possibilities. This is exactly how Satan works. He attracts us with something that seems good at the time, but which, in reality, is very bad. We don’t think carefully through what we’re doing, believing things are OK and suddenly we discover that our own ideas have let us down badly. Then Satan springs the trap.

May I urge you to always prayerfully consider the consequences of all the choices you make. I read recently the tragic story of a young woman who thought drugs were great ‘for kicks’. She knew what she was doing, she would say. But once she had tasted the soft drugs, she wanted the harder ones, then she started injecting, and today all her mother can do is put flowers on her grave. What seems right can, literally, end in death. But the death that is more to be feared than physical death, is that which comes when people are trapped by Satan for eternity. And that should be of the greatest concern to each one of us.

Prayer: Help me, Lord, not to think that my wisdom is greater than yours and as a result follow pathways that, as the writer of this proverb, indicates, will end in death. Today, I choose to follow You, Lord Jesus. I am so grateful that You are the way, the truth and the life. Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Living the Life - Book by Peter Horrobin

God Really Knows You!

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Sat, 22 May 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Psalm 139:4, NLT
"You know what I am going to say even before I say it, LORD."

On a recent visit from my mum I found myself, on several occasions, telling her exactly what my son, Kyle, was about to do. I just know how he will respond in certain circumstances. For example, I know that if I take down the biscuit tin I will very quickly hear the word, “Please.” I also know that if I turn the tap on in the bath upstairs he will run up the stairs shouting, “Bath!” and start trying to strip his clothes off. The list could go on and on. Such knowledge is only available because I am constantly with Kyle. I watch him in every situation, for both my enjoyment and to ensure his safety.

It reminded me of this verse of Scripture. God knows us so well that He knows exactly how we will respond in any given situation. He isn’t dictating to us what to say or do but He simply knows us and therefore He knows how we will react to every circumstance of life.

God not only watch us to ensure we’re safe; He actually enjoys watching His children as they go through life. Just as I smile with a knowing smile when Kyle behaves in certain ways, God must look at us with a smile as well. He loves knowing us, He loves watching us as we go through our daily lives and He loves us unfailingly, even when He knows we’re going to do something wrong.

As much as I know my son, God knows each one of us infinitely more. He knows every move we’re about to make and every word we’re about to speak. God knows us so thoroughly that it’s impossible to hide from Him, as it says in verse 12 of this Psalm.

As much as we would like to think we are unpredictable and that we can hide our behaviour from God, we can’t. There is such freedom in knowing this truth; knowing that no matter what we think, do or say, God knows us and still loves us unfailingly.

Prayer: Father God, You know me completely, without exception. Help me to rest and find freedom in knowing that You love me unfailingly even though nothing is hidden from You. Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Living as Children of the Father - Teaching CD

How Big Is God?

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Fri, 21 May 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Job 9:10, NIV
"He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted."

How big is God? How many are His promises to us? How enduring is His love and mercy? How great is His Kingdom? Today, the word ‘billion’ gets bandied about almost in a casual manner, but a billion, which is 1,000,000,000, is a difficult number for most of us to comprehend. For example: A billion seconds ago, it was 1978. A billion minutes ago, Jesus walked by the Sea of Galilee (1.04 billion minutes to be more exact). A billion hours ago, our ancestors were living in the Stone Age. During the first months of this year, a billion pounds evidently only lasted the British government for 13 hours and 12 minutes!

If we think about God, God owns billions – He owns the cattle on a thousand hills (Psalm 50:10). God loves billions of people – He is not willing that any should perish but that all should have everlasting life (2 Peter 3:9). God is almighty – He created billions of people, but He promised Abraham that His descendants would be (billions) greater than the grains of sand on the seashore (Genesis 22:17). He created billions of stars and calls each of them by name (Psalm 147:4). Job 38:7 says that the stars in the heavens are singing. Did you know that now, electronically, the sound of this can be captured – The Bible is really true! And God Himself rejoices over us with singing (Zephaniah 3:17).

Although God is truly the God of billions, He is also personal to me and to you. Jesus says in John 10:4, ‘I speak to my sheep (although there are billions of them!) by name. My sheep know and recognise my voice; they will never follow a stranger’. Isn’t it amazing that Almighty God wants to have an intimate relationship with you and me today, and He cares for us (1 Peter 5:7)?

Prayer: Father, help me today to understand afresh Your greatness, Your mightiness and Your sovereignty, and that while You are the God of the billions, You are also my Father and my God, and You love me personally and speak to me by name. Please help me to walk with You and talk with You today. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

NETS Training Programme

Narrow Minded

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Thu, 20 May 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Jeremiah 32:39, NIV
"I will give them singleness of heart and action, so that they will always fear me for their own good and the good of their children after them."

I was talking just recently about what Church would’ve looked like in those first few days after Pentecost. Peter has come back in full swing with Jesus’ authority to speak truth, thousands of God-fearing Jews are together, and the first Christian revival happens! Jesus’ disciples must have been awe-struck!

What was the lead up to the Holy Spirit’s first introduction? Jesus' disciples were together in constant prayer, waiting as Jesus commanded them to. They had ‘singleness of heart’ in their obedience. You could say the apostles were ‘narrow-minded’ in the task at hand. They had been given directions from their Lord to stay in Jerusalem for the gift of the Holy Spirit and so ‘that was that’. This mix-matched group of disciples knew that Whoever this promised Holy Spirit was, He was going to be for their good and for the good of generations to come. We read about the immediate results that came from their obedience, setting the church in motion in Acts 2.

Later on in Acts we see this narrow-mindedness in Paul. Paul is brought before the Sanhedrin and almost torn apart by the teachers of the law. It’s then that the Holy Spirit tells him to go and testify in Rome. Paul is so narrow-minded about this assignment that he appeals to Caesar in his court case, when he could have been freed! Rome was the one thing on his mind.

Our western culture uses the term ‘narrow minded’ as being a negative, self-centred way of thinking. However, in light of the apostles, we need to walk a narrow road both in our thoughts and actions. Being Christ’s disciples means living by ‘One Way’, setting our course to God’s spoken destination. Without accurate directions, we’ll get lost every time. But with single-hearted determination, we will find life like we’ve never known.

‘Small is the gate and narrow is the road that leads to life, and only a few find it’ Matthew 7:13-14.

Prayer: Father God, thank You for sending Your Holy Spirit to us as our direction-giver. I choose to align my footsteps with Yours and go where You tell me to go. It is my joy to set my course on Your perfect destination for my life. Give me Your mind to stay the course. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

No Other Way - Teaching CD

This same Jesus will come back

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Wed, 19 May 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Acts 1:11, NIV
“Why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen Him go…”

We have recently remembered Ascension Day, an important event in the calendar of the church and yet sometimes overlooked because Ascension Day is always on a Thursday.

The disciples must have been bewildered. They had witnessed the cross and resurrection, they were delighted that Jesus was with them again and on Ascension Day, as they stood with Jesus on the Mount of Olives, He was suddenly taken from them.

The last words Jesus spoke to His disciples were, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit is come upon you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

The last thing Jesus did before ascending to heaven was to bless His disciples. (Luke 24:50) Whilst He was blessing them He was taken from them into heaven. Two angels appeared beside them as they stood looking into the sky with the promise that Jesus will come back.

The disciples had a mission to accomplish and so they were told to wait until they had received the power to accomplish it. When they received the power they were no longer fearful and inward looking. They were focused on the world needing knowledge of the One they had learned to love.

We too have a mission. Our mission is to be witnesses for The Lord Jesus. It is an urgent mission, because the time is getting shorter. Jesus is coming again! We need our Pentecost experience to focus us outward from ourselves onto a world full of individuals, dying for lack of knowledge of His love and His power to save.

Prayer: Father, thank you for all that Jesus accomplished through His death, resurrection and ascension. As I wait for His return, please fill me anew with the Holy Spirit so that I will be a living witness for Him as I wait for His return. Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

God's Fire - Teaching CD

Kingdom of Heaven

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Tue, 18 May 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Matthew 10:7-8, Amp
"And as you go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand! Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give."

Many churches today are discovering new ways of reaching into the community – coffee shops, ‘messy church’, soup kitchens, and debt counselling – all great ideas in themselves and wonderful ways for Christians to express their love for those around them, but we mustn’t lose sight of Jesus’ original command to His disciples.

When Jesus sent out the disciples, He gave them the Holy Spirit so that they could do all the things that He did. They had heard Him teaching, watched Him healing people and casting out demons, and now it was their turn to do the same. It must have been an anxious time for them until they actually stepped out in faith and discovered that it works! They came back excited and rejoicing (Luke 10: 17). Through the power and authority that Jesus offered to them, they were able to heal the sick and cast out demons and later we know that they also raised the dead (Acts 9:40; 20:9-10).

Paul tells us that the same power that was used to raise Jesus from the dead is available for us today (Ephesians 1:19-20). Wouldn’t it be wonderful if, as well as doing all the things mentioned above, all our churches were also fully involved in the Great Commission?

Prayer: Dearest Father, Your heart is so much for the hurting and broken ones in our society. I pray that You will help me to reach out to them with the healing, comfort and love of Jesus, in and through His precious Name, Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

No Compromise - Teaching CD

Dwelling in Unity

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Mon, 17 May 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Colossians 3:12, ESV
"Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience."

The Apostle Paul wrote to the Colossians and reminded them that they were chosen ones and that they were holy and beloved. So they had the power to act in a way that reflected the character and nature of Jesus. It was still a free will choice. Maintaining a sense of unity in the Body of Christ was one of their biggest challenges as Christians. Their attitudes and words could deteriorate into backbiting or gossip, malicious words and fits of temper and rage. Instead of that they could ‘put on’ ‘compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience’.

Compassionate hearts means having empathy towards others, putting the needs of others above our own, encouraging one another and using words that build others up. Instead of getting angry we can ‘get kind’. We can show by our actions that we appreciate others.

Humility means valuing the giftings of others and not thinking of ourselves as superior. Meekness is perhaps better understood as the word gentleness. It doesn’t mean that we never confront others but we need to do it in a loving way with the motivation of wanting to improve our relationship with them.

Patience is not getting frustrated when others are less fast and efficient than us or thinking our goals are more important than those of others. Paul goes on to say ‘bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive’ (Colossians 3:13). We can choose to overlook the mistakes of others, treating them as we would like them to treat us.

It’s all about loving one another as Jesus loved us ‘And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony’ (Colossians 3:14).

Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father we thank You that we are holy and beloved in Your eyes. May we reflect our Lord Jesus in the way we relate to others. May we be able to put on ‘compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience’. Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

The Gentle Shepherd - Teaching CD

Beware of Footholds

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Sun, 16 May 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Ephesians 4:26-27, NIV
“In your anger do not sin. Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry and do not give the devil a foothold.”

For a long time now we have had predators in our garden in the form of pigeons. We have tried different ways to get rid of them but they are very persistent. Our consolation was that despite their efforts, the pigeons had not been able to get at the food in the containers intended for the small birds. Pigeons are the wrong size and the wrong shape. They had to be content with the small bird’s leftovers that fell to the ground.

However, we recently bought a new bird feeder and noticed that this was empty within a very short time. The reason soon became obvious. The new feeder had on it a foothold. This was ideal for pigeons. It enabled them to get to the bird food and steal what was never intended for them. The only way to prevent theft was to get rid of the foothold.

The enemy works hard to get footholds into people’s lives. Our text today gives one example of how he does this. The Bible teaches us that there are two kinds of anger – righteous and unrighteous. Anger against unrighteousness and injustice in our world is righteous anger, as was demonstrated in the life of the Lord Jesus. As Christians we should be angry and intolerant in the face of evil that is all around us. The kind of anger that gives the devil a foothold is personal, prolonged anger that bubbles under the surface, or overflows, with bitterness and resentment and hurts others.

Any persistent sin in the believer’s life is a foothold for the devil. He lurks around, hoping to exploit it to his own advantage. Jesus described him as a thief and a robber. His motive is to steal that which is good, to rob the child of God of peace and to spoil the effectiveness for the Kingdom of Heaven.

Footholds are dealt with at the cross. Confession of sin and receiving forgiveness from God removes the foothold. There is no longer room for the enemy of souls to continue his work. Thank God for the power of the blood of Jesus.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, please help me to recognise anything in my life that would give the devil a foothold and rob me of my effectiveness for You. Thank You for all that Jesus accomplished when He died on the cross. I choose to live my life today filled with the Holy Spirit so that I walk in righteousness and truth. Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

No Compromise - Teaching CD

Are You Not Worth Much More?

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Sat, 15 May 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Matthew 6:25, KJV
"Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye

shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?"

As I lay outside in the spring sun, I saw hundreds of little flies flying freely and enjoying the space and warmth. Spring brings everything to life; the birds, the butterflies, nicely trimmed grass, the flowers and trees, all of different colours and designs. As if in obedience to one voice, everything springs into beauty and colour.

This might make you and I wonder about the wisdom and creativity of our Creator, Father God.

Yet as I look into all this beauty, the scripture comes to life in me when Jesus told His followers, “Are ye not much better than they?” (Matthew 6:26). You and I are more important than the birds, the flowers or anything else. We are made in His image and He knows your every single need before you ask Him.

Our Father owns everything. He does not live far away from us but is omnipresent and only a prayer away. He withholds no good thing from those who love Him. The world worries about physical and material needs. We don’t need to join in the world’s worry and strife, but trust in Him. He will fulfil what we need because He is our Father.

Prayer: Father, thank You for creating me and rejoicing over me. Forgive me for worrying about my needs and help me to trust in Your provision. Now I give You all my needs and desires. Thank You Lord. Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Living as Children of the Father - Teaching CD

Practices that become Idols

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Fri, 14 May 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Numbers 21:8-9, NIV
"The Lord said to Moses, ‘Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.’ So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, he lived."

On one occasion when the people of Israel were in the desert and they grumbled against God and against Moses, the Lord sent venomous snakes amongst them. Many of the people were bitten by the snakes and died. However, God once again showed His mercy, and when Moses interceded for the people He provided a way out for them. Moses was to make a bronze snake on a pole, and when anyone was bitten he could look at it and live.

This was God’s solution for that particular time, and it was also pointing the way to Jesus on the Cross being the way to eternal life (John 3:14). However, the Israelites allowed those instructions from God to become a formula for them, which then became an idol and was passed down the generations as a tradition. We read in 2 Kings 18:4 that they still had the bronze snake many hundreds of years later. T hey had given it a name (Nehushtan) and had been burning incense to it. It had to be destroyed by King Hezekiah along with other idols and objects of false worship.

The bronze snake was something given by God at a particular time, but the people had taken their eyes off Him and had looked to the object and to the practice instead. The instructions were intended for one occasion and not as a blue print to be followed for all time. Are there things in our lives that we are continuing to do just because God showed us on one occasion it was the right thing to do then? Have we become religious in that practice and has it become an idol in our lives? Are we relying on the practice, rather than on Jesus Himself? Are there traditions that have been passed down through our families or churches that we are continuing, rather than looking to Jesus? Let’s get rid of any idols in our lives today and look to Jesus and to Him alone.

Prayer: Lord, forgive me for making an idol of anything, or repeating practices passed down the generations, rather than looking to You for life and healing. Thank You that if I look to Jesus I have everything I need. Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

No Compromise - Teaching CD by Jill Southern

God’s Breakdown Service

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Thu, 13 May 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Acts 8: 26-27, NIV
"The angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road – the desert road - that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza”. So he started out and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians."

I wonder if you have noticed that so often God puts people in strategic places to help others out of their difficulties. I had a wonderful experience of that recently when, with a friend, I was driving a hired van full of furniture. I was just crossing a busy main dual carriageway at a set of traffic lights when the clutch ‘broke’ halfway across the road. Fortunately there was enough momentum and space to enable me to coast to the side of the road, where we investigated the problem and discovered we needed expert help.

We urgently prayed for God’s intervention and made a few phone calls. In no time at all I received a call from the vehicle assistance patrolman (part of a motoring organisation called the AA). He told me he was sitting in the café at the garage 100 metres behind us waiting for a call, and would be with us in 2 minutes! He duly arrived, did some temporary repairs to get us home, and followed us for some distance to make sure all was well. We were able to continue on our journey with a minimum delay and complete the tasks we had set out to do. Praise the Lord!

In Acts 8:26-27 the Ethiopian on his journey was in need of his own ‘spiritual patrolmen’ to come to his rescue as he struggled with a problem in understanding the Bible. But God had already arranged for Philip to be on that road and be in the right place at the right time. Philip was able to provide the Ethiopian with a permanent solution to his problem by telling him about Jesus. The man then went on his way rejoicing, (just as we did on our journey).

You may have been selected by God to be part of his AA (Angelic Assistance) to help out someone in need. God can use us within His purposes to rescue that person if we are ready to receive His call and to go in obedience in answer to it.

Prayer: Father God, thank You that You watch over us at all times, and are ready when we encounter a crisis. Thank You for all those people whom You have sent to help us in these times of need. Please enable us to be alert to Your call for us to go to the assistance of others when they are in difficulties. In Jesus’ Name we commit ourselves to Your purposes in this. Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

God's Amazing Grace - Teaching CD by Fiona Horrobin

Satnav

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Wed, 12 May 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Isaiah 30: 21, Amp.
“And your ears will hear a word behind you, saying, This is the way; walk in it, when you turn to the right hand and when you turn to the left.”

I have recently acquired a Satnav as I do a fair number of long car journeys on my own, making map-reading a problem. Not a great one to trust gadgets, I always have a good look at the map first, making sure I know roughly where I’m supposed to be going: I have no wish to be stranded half-way up a single track road with no turning point, or in a river, because the Satnav says there’s a ford there!

Recently my husband and I decided to go out for lunch to a farm shop with a restaurant we’d heard about. It is only about 12 miles from home but there are many narrow country lanes to get lost in, so I had a good look at the map, set ‘Emily’ (the voice of the Satnav) and off we went. She was determined to send me down all sorts of narrow ways, but I thought I knew best, so I stuck to the main road and turned off at the last minute. It was still much further than I thought and although Emily was urging me on, I stopped to ask at a farm. Emily was quite right of course, and on the way back, after a delicious meal, I meekly followed her instructions and she brought us home through some beautiful countryside we had never seen before.

I wonder how often we treat the voice of God in the same way? We think we know best and go our own way, ignoring the quiet but persistent voice in our ear, because it looks as though we might get lost in the ‘narrow lanes’. If we are following God’s instructions we will be quite safe, and He will be able to open up the plans He has for us.

Prayer: Dear Father, I know in my heart that You always know what is best for me, but still I choose to go my own way. Please forgive me and help me to listen for that ‘still, small voice’ of Yours, and to obey it. Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

God is still Speaking - Book by Brian Mills

Hilarious Giver

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Tue, 11 May 2010 00:00:00 +0100

2 Corinthians 9:7-8, LB
Everyone must make up his own mind as to how much he should give. Don’t force anyone to give more than he really wants to, for cheerful givers are the ones God prizes. God is able to make it up to you by giving you everything you need and more, so that there will not only be enough for your own needs, but plenty left over to give joyfully to others.

Whenever we visited my mother, she would always have something to give us. She had such a wonderful, loving and generous heart. It may have only been some coupons from the newspaper or roses from the garden or some left over cakes, but she just longed to give something to show her love.

The Lord really loves a cheerful giver. In one translation it gives another root of this verb meaning ‘hilarious giving,’ which really describes how the Lord wants us to give.

There are no rules about giving when we are under the law of love. God doesn’t mind if we wish to give fifty per cent rather than ten percent to Him, as long as it’s given joyfully and with the knowledge that everything we have comes from Him in the first place.

As believers we have much to give to others. Maybe we aren’t aware of all the gifts we’ve been given. They’ve been given to us to give away! Maybe we aren’t aware of the hidden needs of those we live amongst. Some need the peace of Jesus; or healing, forgiveness, freedom, encouragement, or comfort. Sometimes we can give material things that people need, and by so giving we find a way that can touch their deeper, hidden need. May the Lord keep us alert in the spirit to what people’s real needs are.

When we come together in fellowship, do we come with our ‘baskets’ full, ready to share with that lonely one, that empty or hungry soul who’s longing for a special touch or word? ‘Whenever you come together, each of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification’(1 Corinthians, 14:26), for the gifts of the Holy Spirit are given that we might build one another up. Let’s be ‘hilarious and loving givers’.

Though we can never repay the debt of love we owe the Lord for the rich and full life

He has given us in His Son, ‘Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!’

(2 Corinthians 9:15). As George Matheson writes, my prayer is;

O Love that will not let me go, I rest my weary soul in Thee, I give Thee back the life I owe, that in Thine ocean depths its flow May richer, fuller be. Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

ShepherdLove Series - Books/CDs by Pam Smith

Shadows

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Mon, 10 May 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Psalm 139:11 & 12, NIV
"If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light around me become night,’ even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is as bright as the day, for darkness is as light to you."

I have been attending a watercolour class and our art teacher keeps reminding us of the vital principles for painting pictures. One of these principles is to remember the shadows. I have a tendency to like and enjoy the light or bright colours. I don’t naturally turn to the dark colours and somehow I have a resistance to putting them in the picture. Yet when I saw what they produced I was delighted because they complete the picture, and indeed give it life!

As I thought about this, I realised how easy it is to try and make our lives a pretty picture without shadows. But shadows make up the reality of life and without the shadows life would be flat and unreal. Shadows are an essential part of life and make life what it is. If we could understand this principle we would welcome shadows because with the light and the sun they produce depth, form and movement.

We should be careful not to reject the shadows which come into our life but rather see them as working out a picture which has rich meaning. If we allow the Master Artist to hold the brush of our lives, He’ll bring something beautiful out of the darkest place. The shadows themselves can do the work of enhancing life if we allow the Artist to do His work.

But it’s so easy to reject them and fight them rather than embrace them in a way which God can use. We see them as unwelcome intrusions. Other times we blame ourselves for them rather than accepting them as part of life’s circumstances and trusting the Artist to turn them to good.

We can see the shadows of our life through the suffering we’ve gone through, or life’s toil, and the general difficulties of living in this fallen world, where we do have to struggle with stresses and strains. The Lord Jesus doesn’t want us to turn on ourselves or others in rejection and hopelessness, but rather trust Him. As we yield to Him the shadows will contrast with the light and the overall picture of our lives will be beautified even though we might not see it at this present time. The key is to yield to Him.

Prayer: Dear Lord Jesus, I come in fresh trust to You for the circumstances in my life today. I ask You to take the good, the bad and the difficult aspects and to turn them into a beautiful picture hallmarked by You, the Master Artist. Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

God's Amazing Grace - Teaching CD by Fiona Horrobin

When the enemy seeks you out!

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Sun, 09 May 2010 00:00:00 +0100

2 Samuel 5:17, NIV
‘When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed King over Israel, they went up in full force to search for him.’

David had been anointed to be the future King by Samuel when he was not much more than a boy. The years had passed and now the position of Kingly authority, which Samuel had set him apart for, was now his. Judah and Israel had been united under his leadership and he had been installed as king and anointed again into his God-prepared office. He was now in charge, with all the authority of God behind him to rule and reign in the land.

What a great moment that must have been for David, as he realised that everything he had been made for was actually happening. The problem, however, with getting into the place of God’s appointing and anointing is that you are now at your most dangerous to the enemy! The Philistines had not forgotten that King David was the one who had defeated Goliath and, as a result, all the Philistine armies were defeated also. So the moment news of David being established on the throne reached the Philistines, they didn’t send him a gift and a congratulatory note, but, instead, prepared their armies to go and search for him. They went in full force to try and deal David a fatal blow.

How the Philistines behaved in this instance, is a picture of how the spiritual enemies of God’s people have always behaved. Satan hates it when believers get themselves into the place of their calling and destiny. For then they are at their most dangerous to the enemy strongholds. Satan fears what damage they may do to his kingdom. So he works out a strategy to attack us and find those places of vulnerability in our spiritual defences.

As you read the rest of this story you see how David didn’t act on his own understanding, but enquired of the Lord what he should do and, as a result, he defeated the Philistines twice in quick succession. The key lesson for us from David’s experience is that we must always enquire of the Lord about what we should do – in all and every circumstance. His wisdom is such that even if the enemy thinks he has a means of destroying what God is doing through you, God always has a strategy that will give you victory. The key is simple, take time to listen to God and then act faithfully in obedience. The Philistines were defeated when David did this and David’s victory is a great encouragement to us to hold our ground when we are under threat of attack, knowing that God wants to give us the victory.

Prayer: Help me, Lord, when the enemy attacks, to always seek your face and ask for your help. I need to know your strategy for dealing with the enemy so that I will remain in my place as a loyal soldier of the King of Kings. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Forgiveness, God's Master Key - Book by Peter Horrobin

Psalm 91

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Sat, 08 May 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Psalm 91: 4, Amp
“He will cover you with His pinions and under His wings shall you trust and find refuge”

I was gardening the other day when I heard a loud rustling in a nearby tree and I turned just in time to see a young blackbird make an undignified landing on the flowerbed underneath. It looked somewhat indignant and alarmed. The nest was too high to attempt to put it back and the parent birds were busy round the garden, so I crept away trusting they would find it. When I had a look later the young blackbird had disappeared, so hopefully it had discovered what those “flappy things” on each side of its body are for!

Psalm 91 gives us a wonderful picture of God’s protection for us. We’re totally safe when we are covered by Him, as that small bird was in the safety of the nest. God told Abram, “I am your Shield” (Genesis 15:1), and He remained faithful to that word, and has done so throughout history, as long as His people remained faithful and walked with Him.

Our protection under God has to do with our obedience. Provided we walk in righteousness before Him we are covered. It is when we sin that we open up a hole in our covering and are liable to enemy attack. God will remain faithful to His promise of protection if we remain obedient, and He will keep us safe in all circumstances, though not necessarily from all circumstances.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You for the wonderful way You watch over me and keep me safe. Please forgive me that I often tend to walk away from Your protection. Thank You that You are always ready to welcome me back. Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Creativity and Healing - Teaching CD

The Word of God

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Fri, 07 May 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Mark 4:18-19, NIV
“Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desire for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.”

This is one of those parables that can be forever tapped into and will faithfully yield new treasures. Today, it became very vivid in my mind. Perhaps this is due to spring that is gaining ground outside, adding colour to the story. I could picture the farmer, going out early in the morning to sow his seed. In olden times, a sower had to spread the grain with a round, even gesture of his hand, so as to distribute the grain equally on the ground. No doubt it took some practice!

As soon as the grain is in the soil, the whole world seems to come against it. Living in England, I have admired the beautiful gardens that adorn nearly every house, and the effort people put into them. They’ll all tell you that a rich soil combined with good conditions are the ingredients for growth.

In this parable, Jesus describes different environments to us. First of all, the seed lands along a path, where it’s trampled on, or quickly eaten up by the birds. Then, some falls on rocks, where the shallowness of the soil dries up the roots of the new crop. But the one place that caught my attention was where the thorns grew. I recently went back to a footpath that I discovered last year. It is a lovely walk by the side of a field. However, when I had last trodden on it, the pathway had been invaded by nettles, which made it very difficult to move forward.

Jesus explains to His disciples (and only to them!) that the thorns represent the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desire for other things. Oh, how many times a day do we get assaulted, even overwhelmed by worries! The devil seems to take a special pleasure in making us worry about anything that comes to hand… relationships, work, the future! And what about wealth!? In this time of ongoing crisis, almost everybody is subject to questions in this area.

The last item of the list gets very interesting, as it is much more subtle. It is as if Jesus was gently pointing out that we are often driven and our thoughts preoccupied by numerous “desires for other things”. This is quite a high standard that is being set!!! He then draws our attention to the one thing we should desire: The Word of God. In another place (Luke 4:4), Jesus tells us: “Man does not live on bread alone.” Bread or food, is of vital importance though! Yet, Jesus uses this image to show us how much we need The Word of God.

Let’s ask Jesus to prepare the ground of our life, sheltering us from the birds, removing the rocks and as we saw today, cleaning up the thorns that can “choke the word, making it unfruitful.”

Prayer: Lord Jesus, I just want to come and ask You to search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Please, help me clean the ground of my life, to receive Your Word with open ears and heart. Let it sink deep into me and do its work! Thank You, because it’s so powerful and precious! Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Becoming holy and whole!

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Thu, 06 May 2010 00:00:00 +0100

1 Thessalonians 5:23, TMB
"May God Himself, the God who makes everything holy and whole, make you holy and whole, put you together – spirit, soul and body - and keep you fit for the coming of our Master, Jesus Christ."

We believe that God has called Ellel Ministries to welcome people, teach them about the Kingdom of God and bring His healing to those in need (Luke 9:11). It would be hard to find a more succinct description of what God’s healing really means, than that which is given above in today’s verse.

In just a few words, this scripture, which we so often refer to on our weekend courses and retreats, reminds us of how God made us and how the sin of the world has so defiled and broken human lives. In receiving Jesus, we have been brought back into relationship with the One who made us and He is definitely in the restoration business, not of paintings, but of works of art which He sees as utterly priceless. That’s you and me!

Mankind, including each one of us, has many times broken covenant with the Creator of the universe. The result has been that we’ve been in the hands of a careless ruler who has been more than happy to see us do damage both to ourselves and also to one another. But now we have been redeemed! God has said to the ruler of this world, “Give them back!”

It is time for each one of us to get repaired and to let God restore His children to a fit state of holiness and wholeness, in order that He and we can enjoy the precious destiny and destination, for which He has given so much. Expert restoration is a very costly business.

Jesus will come for His bride, maybe soon, and He is giving us the opportunity now to deal with our damaged lives. He only asks that we might be willing.

Prayer: Thank You Lord that You alone can truly make us holy and whole. Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Covenant, Healing and Destiny - Teaching by David Cross and Peter Horrobin

Feeling Loved

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Wed, 05 May 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Ephesians 3:16-18, NIV
“I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,”

Someone commented recently that we receive God’s love through faith, just as we receive other good things by faith. I pondered that thought and wondered if it was biblical. Is love something that we receive by faith? Or is it mainly an emotion and an experience, such as “I felt God’s love today”?

In many important ways love is not a feeling at all, but it’s something a person does. If you love someone you act in certain ways, regardless of feelings. I can love another person by my actions, even if my feelings are frozen or distressed. Love isn’t dependent on feelings. I can choose to love you even if you act in ways I don’t like. Love is choosing to be patient. Love is choosing to persevere, to hope and to trust (1 Corinthians 13:4-7).

Love keeps no record of wrongs. What a challenge that can be! Jesus also told us that if our brother sins against us we should speak to him about it, and take others along if he will not listen. So we’re not to ignore wrongs or allow people to go on sinning without challenging them. But we mustn’t hold grudges or keep repeating stories of how someone sinned against us.

God still loves us, even when we don’t feel it. Of course, God doesn’t suffer from frozen emotions like we do. He feels huge emotions when He thinks of you! Wonderful, warm, welcoming emotions! Zephaniah 3:17 says: ‘He will take great delight in you. He will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing’.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You for loving me. I choose to believe it in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Healing and the Love of God - Teaching CD

Light of Life

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Tue, 04 May 2010 00:00:00 +0100

John 8:12, NKJV
"Then Jesus spoke to them again saying, 'I am the light of the world, He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life'".

The darkness can’t put out the light, but when you put the light on, the darkness has to recede. When the sun turns to darkness, it’s because there’s something blocking it. An eclipse of the moon blocks out the sun for a few moments. The light’s still there, only we can’t see it. In the same way Jesus is there even if people can’t believe in Him

If you have the true light of the world, Jesus, in your life, the contrasting darkness all around you can make that light within you appear to shine even brighter. His light also exposes all sorts of things that would lie hidden in the dark, and I’m amazed at the things that are revealed to us when God’s light comes into our lives.

When we share the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and hold up the truth, it’s as if God turns on the light in people’s lives. His light reveals what’s false and what’s true. Perhaps this is what Jesus meant when He said to His disciples, “you are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14).

This wonderful old hymn by George Matheson says so much about the light of Jesus:

"O Light that followest all my way,

I yield my flickering torch to Thee;

My heart restores its borrowed ray,

That in Thy sunshine’s blaze its day may brighter, fairer be."

Prayer: Father, thank You for the light of Your Son that has shone deep in my heart. Help me to hold Your light up high, that its blaze may be brighter in this dark world. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

ShepherdLove Series - Books/CDs by Pam Smith

Speak the truth in love

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Mon, 03 May 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Ephesians 4:14-16, ESV
"…that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love."

What a beautiful illustration the Apostle Paul gives of the Church in his letter to the Ephesians. We are a ‘Body’ which is building itself up in love and growing up into Jesus. He’s the head of this ‘Body’ and we are the limbs and the joints which hold it all together.

At least that is what God’s intention is for the Body of Christ. But sadly we have to admit that the parts don’t always work properly. Something can go wrong and, instead of growing, the ‘Body’ remains stunted in immaturity. Some Christian believers are like children who are easily deceived and are unable to test all things to see what is trustworthy and true.

Paul says the way to reach maturity is ‘speaking the truth in love’. But some of us are not entirely sure how to do this. We can decide to tell the truth at all times but our words can be so harsh and unkind that others are crushed and lose confidence in wanting to share their ideas and gifts with us. On the other hand we can be so fearful of hurting someone’s feelings that we never confront wrong behaviour or tell people when they’ve made a mistake.

Jesus sometimes sounded quite harsh when He spoke to the Pharisees. This was when they needed to be confronted with sinful behaviour and being bad shepherds of God’s people. Jesus wanted to protect those under them from being led astray from God’s purposes. It was necessary to speak the truth very clearly. I’m sure Jesus was able to love the Pharisees although He hated their sinfulness. Loving someone means we want the best for them. Jesus wanted the very best for them as well as all the people who had to submit to their leadership.

Other times Jesus spoke the truth so tenderly and gently, telling forgiven sinners to go in peace but to sin no more. He described Himself as gentle and humble in heart and Isaiah prophesied and said of the Messiah ‘a bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench’ (Isaiah 42:3).

If we could only speak the truth as Jesus did then each part would be working properly and the whole ‘Body’ would grow as it should into Jesus Christ the ‘head’.

Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, I want to grow up in the Body of Christ together with all my brothers and sisters. Please help me to have the courage to speak the truth but to do it in love in the way that Jesus would. Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Blowing the cobwebs out of God's Church - Teaching CD

Making a Difference

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Sun, 02 May 2010 00:00:00 +0100

2 Timothy 2:4, NIV
“No-one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs – he wants to please his commanding officer.”

Recently I watched, enthralled and humbled by the sheer guts and bravery of British NHS volunteer doctors and nurses (members of the Territorial Army) who go each week as Medical Response Teams to war-torn areas of the world. They feel obliged to make a difference, so they leave their families and are commissioned to go on front-line duties to tend to people with horrific injuries. They perform all kinds of operations, ranging from minor surgery to amputations. They don’t think of their own rights or comforts, but selflessly think of those who need their help.

Risking all on the front-line, they immediately become enemy targets as they enter enemy airspace on their way to their duties. Once there they also discover that life on the front-line is full of hidden dangers, for they’re not only there as Medics. They have to take their turn on front-line duty.

At the request of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, we are also called and commissioned to leave ‘father and mother, brother and sister’ to be about our Heavenly Father’s business. At the tender age of 11 Jesus was already aware of this when His concerned parents thought they had lost Him in Jerusalem. Like Gideon’s men who lapped the water with one hand but were alert with weapons in the other so that they weren’t taken by surprise by the enemy, we also find that we need to be on our guard, because we’re on the enemy’s radar screen.

The above scripture reminds us that as soldiers we are to please our Lord Jesus, our commanding officer, and be focussed on the business at hand. We’re warned that the enemy is prowling, going about as a roaring lion to devour, but we are not to fear. For dressed in the amour the Lord has given us, and using the weapons of warfare He has provided, while listening to His words directing us, we will prevail. The enemy won’t be able to derail us. We’re under God’s covering and all we have to do is learn to follow His instructions. Let’s not be distracted or caught ‘off guard’ for we will be rewarded if we’re courageous and keep going (Revelation 22:12). Although it might not seem like it sometimes, you are making a difference!

Prayer: Dear Lord, would You help us to please You by going about our Heavenly Father’s business and tending to the needs of the hurting and the broken, whilst being alert to the wiles and tactics of the enemy. Thank You for the victory You’ve given us in Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Slaying Goliaths - Teaching CD

Feeling at Home?

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Sat, 01 May 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Hebrews13:14, NLT
"For this world is not our home; we are looking forward to our city in heaven, which is yet to come."

While listening to some old recordings I came across a song in which the following line was repeated at the end of each verse: ‘And I can’t feel at home in this world anymore’. This reminded me of the impact Colossians 3:3 had on me when I first came across it in one of the earlier versions of the Living Bible- ‘You should have as little desire for this world as a dead person does. Your real life is in heaven with Christ and God.’

Peter tells us that we are ‘foreigners and aliens here’ (1 Peter 2:11) and as such to keep away from evil desires. There are also other scriptures which remind us of our true citizenship and that we have no continuing (lasting) city here on earth.

While at this time the majority of the citizens of the UK are caught up in ‘election fever’ as the general election approaches, we as ambassadors for the Kingdom of God have been chosen to be salt and light, and therefore need to bring what influence we can, where and when we can.

Our citizenship of Heaven has been assured through the cross of Jesus, our way of entry, our passport to eternal life. Our ‘work visa’, the Word of God, is our authority to work for the Kingdom of God, and tells us how to behave and how to ‘do the works of the Kingdom’ wherever we are.

As we do so, with all the current political, economical, geographical, and meteorological uncertainties let us not be wooed into accepting this world’s solutions for peace, comfort and security, but keep our eyes on Jesus, who will one day take us away from this transitory ‘home’ to a more permanent one.

This world is not my home; I’m just a passing through,

My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue;

The angels beckon me from Heaven’s open door,

And I can’t feel at home in this world anymore. Jim Reeves

Prayer: Dear Lord, as a citizen of Heaven living here on earth help me to do what I can to further the influence of your Kingdom until you call me home. Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Coming Home - Teaching CD

Free Flowing

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +0100
John 7:38, NIV
“Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.”

My in-laws had problems with their drains recently. Well, who hasn’t? Drains are wonderful when they work, providing a free passage for the waste water to go away. When they get blocked it’s another story, usually expensive. The in-laws’ drains got blocked and there was a bit of a flood. The problem was discovered to be tree roots which had grown through tiny cracks in the inspection chambers and then filled up the space, thus preventing the passage of what should have been flowing through.

I was reminded of Jesus’ promise that streams of living water would flow through those who believe in Him. How often is that flow impeded by things that shouldn’t be there? We call them blockages and hindrances when we teach about the Holy Spirit. Our Christian lives may start with the belief that we are free and clear-flowing channels for Jesus, but it doesn’t take long before we realise that there are issues impeding the Spirit of Jesus having total access to every part of us. The streams become a trickle and maybe even just a ‘seepage’ until we are prepared to take the lid off and allow God to reveal the true source of the problem.

As with invasive tree roots, the enemy can get through the smallest crack or opportunity and then grows there to block the Spirit’s flow. The only answer is to remove the blockage and repair the damage. That can be a bit painful and time consuming, not least during the process of cutting stubborn roots, to ensure a complete clearance. All of the enemy presence needs to be dealt with or he will re-invade with lots of his friends!

My in-laws’ drains will need more attention before the water flows freely and permanently. Maybe there will be a continual need for our lives to be inspected from time to time, just to check that no more roots have got into the system. I would rather be a flowing stream in Jesus than a stagnant cistern full of ungodliness!

Prayer: Lord Jesus, the enemy can so easily invade us and hinder Your work in our lives. Please show us where the blockages may lie and give us the courage to take off the lid, so You can do Your work of healing and deliverance. Then we may become the streams of living water flowing into the lives of those around us. Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Follow the Radical Jesus - Teaching CD

It is going to be OK

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +0100
Hebrews 13:5, NLT
"For God has said “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you”. So we can say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper, so I will have no fear”."

As a child, with three brothers to keep up with and being the only girl, I can remember countless times hearing these words from my Dad; “It’s OK. I’ve got you. I won’t let you fall”. “It’s OK – you’re doing fine. Keep going”.

Whether I was trying to keep up with my older brother climbing huge rocks in the North East of England, being encouraged up mountain slopes or attempting some new playset equipment – I can remember the moment of freezing where my legs no longer thought my attempt at bravery was such a good idea and behind me, from just behind or below, I would hear my Dad with these familiar words.

I look back on those days now as a parent myself, and smile at how often I find myself speaking the same words to my own children. Whatever the new venture or attempt may be in their lives, coming from Mum or Dad, those words “It will be OK” speak such confidence and peace deep into their hearts on the inside. Such simple, non-descript words really, and yet they contain so much depth of meaning to us as children. Somewhere inside we know it doesn’t mean “everything is going to be perfect and I promise you won’t get hurt” but instead they mean quite simply “whatever happens, keep going, it is going to be OK and I will still be here and loving you”.

As adults nothing is more comforting to hear than these simple words from Father God - “It is going to be OK”. It doesn’t necessarily change our situation in the day to day. It doesn’t erase the circumstances that have caused us to be worried in the first place. BUT it does something so much more … it brings a deep peace and security to our hearts deep on the inside. It reminds us, just like in today’s Scripture that He will never let us down. He will never leave us. We may still have to climb the mountain or scale the rock, but what new courage and energy we can experience to know no matter what… “He is my helper and I don’t need to be afraid”.

Prayer: Father God, what a peace it brings my heart to know that You will never leave me, that You will never let me down. Thank you Lord that I don’t walk through the challenges of life alone, that if I only listen for Your voice I will find You right by my side, speaking Your words of assurance and truth to my heart. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Healing and the Love of God - Teaching CD

He gave Gifts to Men

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +0100
Ephesians 4:11-13, ESV
"And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ."

The Apostle Paul writes to the Ephesians and talks of Jesus, triumphant after His resurrection, giving gifts to His people from the spoils of His victory. He quotes from Psalm 68:18 as follows: ‘Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.” The picture Paul is painting is of Jesus, after He had triumphed over the demonic forces of the enemy, leading them as captives, or prisoners of war, in a procession.

But what are the gifts Jesus gave? It turns out that they are the spiritual leaders in the Body of Christ. ‘And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ’ (Ephesians 4:11-13).

Today the Body of Christ has many different ways of expressing itself throughout the world and it’s interesting to ask people from a different nation, or a different denomination within one’s own country, what they understand about spiritual leadership. Some may readily understand the function of apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds and teachers to the Church as a whole but others may struggle with the concept of some of those roles. But what is absolutely clear from this passage of Scripture is that the job of spiritual leaders is to build up the Body of Christ and equip believers (saints).

I don’t believe it’s the job of every spiritual leader to fulfill every role mentioned here and some will have particular strengths in one or more area of gifting. That’s why we need one another. Apostles blaze a trail for God’s Kingdom and plant churches or Christian organizations where there were none before. Prophets alert us to God’s specific message to us today in our situations. Evangelists are needed to proclaim the Good News of Jesus as Saviour to those who don’t yet know Him. Pastors or shepherds nurture believers and disciple them in living the Christian life and teachers make it easier to understand God’s written Word and apply it to our lives.

What about the members of the congregation? I believe God wants them all to take up their role within the Body of Christ. They are also to become gifts that God gives to the Body of Christ. We can all contribute to building up others and helping them grow closer to Jesus. I know those who visit the sick and cheer them up and get their shopping for them. I know those who go and fetch the elderly people from the residential home in their cars and bring them to a special mid week service at the church. I know those who teach adults or children about Jesus. I know those who pray for others. There are many jobs we can do for Jesus and find a role in the Body of Christ.

Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, please help me to see where I can take a part in equipping the saints. May I not sit back and leave it all to the spiritual leaders. Give me the confidence and the boldness to be a gift to the Body of Christ. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Living the Life - DVD Series

I Have Drawn You To Me

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +0100
Jeremiah 31:3, LB
For long ago the Lord had said to Israel, “Yes, I have loved you, O my people, with an everlasting love, with loving kindness I have drawn you to me.”

There comes a time when spring arrives. The winter is past, and the snow is over and gone. The flowers spring up, the birds start singing, the leaves come out and there’s blossom everywhere. And there comes a time when the seeds planted in our lives burst forth into new life and grow.

There’s a time in our lives when the Son of God draws us personally to Himself. As the Lord said to Israel ‘Yes, I have loved you, O my people, with an everlasting love, with loving kindness I have drawn you to me’ (Jeremiah 31:3).

We may be in school, or at work. We may be with family or travelling somewhere. We may be shopping or in Church, doing the housework or out in the country alone. We may be in prison or in hospital or even at war somewhere, but we wherever we are we will hear His gentle voice calling us at that particular time and place.

The Bible says that God loved us before we even knew Him. "This is love; not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins (1 John 4:10), and ‘We love him because he first loved us" (1 John 4:19).

I came across a small book called ‘The Hound of Heaven’. It was a poem written in old English, with expressive drawings, about the persistent pursuit of the Lord after the one who was running away from his Love. At the end of the poem the Lord says ‘Rise, clasp my hand and come’.

The Lord could outrun us, but He’s too patient and longsuffering to do that. But we can’t ever escape from His presence. ‘Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven you are there. If I make my bed in Sheol, behold You are there. If I take the morning winds and fly to the farthest oceans, even there Your hand will guide me, Your strength will support me’ (Psalm 139:7-12).

There are many wonderful things in this life such as the beauty of the Creation and the innocence of a child – but more wonderful than anything else is the revelation that comes when we receive the Saviour’s love and when we let Him change us into a brand new person inside, and we become born of the Spirit of God.

I’ve found a Friend, O such a Friend! He loved me ‘ere I knew Him;

He drew me with the cords of love, And thus He bound me to Him.

And round my heart still closely twine Those ties which naught can sever;

For I am His, and He is mine, For ever and for ever. (James G.Small)

Prayer: Lord, I’m so comforted by Your pursuing love. Thank You that I can never get away from Your Spirit. May I lift You up, that many will be drawn to You each day. In Jesus’ Name.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

ShepherdLove Series - Books/CDs by Pam Smith

Spiritual Gardening

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +0100
Psalm 126:4-6, NIV
"Restore our fortunes, O Lord, like the watercourses in the Negreb. May those who sow in tears reap with shouts of joy. Those who go out weeping bearing the seed for sowing shall come home with shouts of joy carrying their sheaves."

Our lives are created by God to be rather like a garden. A garden is meant to be alive with growth and each garden tells a picture. There are no two gardens alike because trees, plants and grass are alive, and each grow entirely differently. A garden is designed to have needs and when those needs are met, it blossoms and comes into its destiny. The gardener attends to the needs of the garden and a good gardener goes beyond just the needs of the garden. A good gardener holds a vision for the garden and wants to bring it to its full potential not allowing anything to steal or to stop the journey of growth and eventual maturing.

However, the climatic conditions can’t be controlled. The weather could be too dry or it could be too wet. In some countries it could be the problem of the cold and the frost and, without proper protection, some plants would die. At other times, weeding is necessary to remove those things which would take away the nutrients of the soil or remove the kind of weeds which would bind themselves around healthy plants and choke them.

Whichever way we look at it, a garden is dependent upon its gardener. However, the gardener is also dependent. The gardener is dependent upon the Creator. The Creator has put in place physical and spiritual laws without which the world could not exist. Without understanding and obedience to these laws, chaos will result. The gardener has no control over gravity, the climate or weather. The garden must be tended according to the laws of the universe.

We are the gardeners of our lives. We’re created to watch over our lives and to live them according to the master’s laws. In doing so we’ll find that the garden of our life becomes one of order, fruitfulness and beauty. Our hard work of watching over it will produce a reward in due season.

Many of us feel that we’ve sown our garden with many tears. We’ve come up against climatic conditions which are harsh. We’ve struggled with the hard ground where stones and weeds abound. We’ve laboured in areas where there’s seemingly been little fruitfulness and yield. Many times we may have felt that the work of our particular garden was too great.

Yet, the Creator’s law is at work. We may not be able to see it but the tears of struggle and pain are having their effect. They're producing something underground which is taking root and shape. One day the tears will bring a crop and the crop will produce a harvest, even though we can’t see it yet, and indeed we may not see it in our own lifetime. The sowing part of gardening is the most crucial part. The ground in itself can produce nothing until something is sown.

Let’s ask our Heavenly Father today to take our tears and to sow them into beauty in the ground of our lives and bring forth a good yield. Let’s do our part and be vigilant against the forces which would strangle the good seed which is sown so that it can’t grow and blossom. The enemy wants to use the weeds (sin) of our life to rob us. Negativity, self pity, ungratefulness, self idolatry want to take root and fill our garden (life) so that the beauty cannot be seen and the garden cannot be fruitful.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, please help me to identify the weeds of my sinful nature and to put the axe to the root. Help me to allow Your law of sowing and reaping to take place in my life so it can become the garden of fruitfulness You designed it to be and in due season I will reap with shouts of joy. This is Your promise to me today. Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

God's Amazing Grace - Teaching CD by Fiona Horrobin

A Matter of Choice

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +0100
Joshua 24:14-15, NIV
“Now fear the Lord and serve him with faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

Joshua gave the people of God three choices – you can either vote for the gods of Egypt, the gods of the Amorites or the Lord! No, it wasn’t an election, but the people were being challenged by their leader to make a choice and there were three obvious choices they could make. ‘Who are you going to serve?’ Joshua asked. He also made it very clear that as their leader, there was no doubting the choice he was making – he, and all his household, were going to serve the Lord.

When a nation elects a political party to govern their country, they have to live with the consequences of their choice. And similarly, when we choose which ‘god or gods’ we are going to serve, we have to live with the consequences of that choice also. The election of a political party only gives them power for a relatively short period of time. But when we choose the gods that we are going to serve, the consequences can go beyond the realms of time and affect our eternal destiny as well.

So, as the British people, right now, are going through the process of deciding who they are going to vote for at a General Election, I’d like to encourage you to be thinking about something far more important – the choices you make which can affect eternity as well as time. The gods of Egypt and the gods of the Amorites had been proven to be false gods, but the problem with false gods is that they are attractive, because they can be made to fit in with whatever lifestyle or morality you would like them to have. It’s easy to follow a god which lets you do whatever you like, without reference to whether or not that is either good for you or right. False gods always distort the truth and sell you a lie.

The Lord is not a false god, He is the living God whose love and laws provide the boundaries of safety for the whole of mankind. If we choose to follow and serve Him, we may sometimes find that His Word says ‘No’ to things our flesh would want to say ‘Yes’ to. But serving false gods can be a bit like voting for a god who encourages us to say ‘Yes’ to the things that will destroy us from the inside out and eventually rob us of life itself.

It’s not only time to seek the Lord, it’s time that those who know and love Him should be voting with their feet and turning away from the gods of this world and keeping their focus on the Lord - and Him alone! His is the very best government for our lives, under which we will be secure for time and eternity.

Prayer: Thank you Lord God that You are totally trustworthy and that Your love and Your laws provide all those who choose to follow you with security for time and eternity. I choose, this day, to love and serve the Lord! In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Forgiveness, God's Master Key - Book by Peter Horrobin

A debt you will never pay off

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +0100
Romans 13:8, NIV
Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves his fellow-man has fulfilled the law.

The Bible does not encourage debt. However, debt is very prevalent in our world today. Whether we live in the developed or developing world, debt is a major problem. People find it hard to survive and many borrow more money to try to stall existing debt. Of course, this serves only to tighten the debt trap and for many it’s impossible to break free from debt.

Immediately before the cross Jesus gave His disciples a new commandment – to love one another. To love one’s fellow believers is the clear evidence of being a disciple of Jesus. It’s so important to Jesus that love is predominant amongst His people that He gave the direct command three times in the last week of His life.

Paul told the Roman believers that they should pay off their debts to whoever they owed money and not let debts be outstanding. However, he told them that there was a debt which could never be paid off, and that was the continuing debt to love one another. It was a life-long debt.

It was an important debt to keep in mind constantly because the second coming of Jesus was something the early Christians desired to be ready for. The command to love one another is surely equally as important to us for the second coming of Jesus is so much nearer today.

To be trapped in the love debt is the normal way for any Christian to live. To live with the continuing debt to love one another is to live in obedience to the command of the Lord Jesus. It’s the outward expression of our love for Him.

Prayer: Lord, please forgive me when I have not loved others as You desire. Thank You for the cross, the ultimate expression of Your unfailing love to me. I ask You to change any heart attitudes in me that block the flow of Your love to others through me. Please help me today to live out the new commandment to love one another. Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Living the Life - DVD Series. Great for House Groups.

The Strength to Rescue you

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +0100
Isaiah 50:2, NIV
"When I came, why was there no one? When I called, why was there no one to answer? Was my arm too short to ransom you? Do I lack the strength to rescue you?"

Once I was driving on the motorway when I sensed I should slow down and move to the inside lane. As I did this my wheel started to wobble, but I was able to pull off the road. It was night time, very dark, and I was in the middle of the countryside during a storm. I managed to find a phone and call for the roadside rescue service. Within a short while, the man arrived. The nuts on the wheel had sheared off and he had to take the car to a garage. My daughter and I climbed into his warm rescue van. Eventually we were able to continue our journey in safety but were told that it could have caused a serious accident and we were really lucky.

I was very thankful to the Lord for I knew that He had protected us. There was an advert at that time for that particular roadside rescue association. It said ‘I may not be able to help you, but I know a man who can’. I have often thought that when difficult situations arise which we can’t do anything about the Sovereign Lord has been sent to help us. He can rescue and deliver us when there’s a breakdown. And we can say to others whenever we can’t help them, that we know the Man who can help, the Lord Jesus.

I believe that He’s able to ransom, rescue and save. ‘Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them’ (Hebrews 7:25).

These are wonderful, comforting words. When there is no one else to turn to the Lord comes to us. ‘Because he loves me,’ says the Lord, ‘I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honour him’ (Psalm 91:14 – 15). He hears your deepest prayer and knows your heart cry, and can change and restore life’s situations as you allow Him to change you.

Prayer: Lord, thank You for the many times You have rescued me and protected me, without my knowing. Help me to trust You implicitly as I place each day’s battle in Your hands. In Jesus’ Name.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

ShepherdLove Series - Books/CDs by Pam Smith

A Missing Key?

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +0100
2 Timothy 3:16, NIV
"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,"

It seems to be one of life’s strange phenomenons; that you find the odd key lying around and you have no idea what lock it is for! It must have a reason for being there, I mean, no one makes a key without a lock for it to work in.

This happened to me a while ago and I was loathe to throw the seemingly useless key away. So I put it in a safe place in case I ever found a lock without a key. Years down the line I find the missing lock - it was for my suitcase, which I haven’t used the lock on for a long time. Then came into play another of life’s phenomenon – that mysterious ‘safe place’ that can never be found again! I hunted high and low, looking in every nook and cranny that I thought likely, possible, unlikely and down right stupid… never to discover the elusive key.

It strikes me that this is how we can be when reading the Bible. We read something, know it is of some significance but can’t quite figure out how or why. But this is when we have a choice – do we throw it away from our minds or do we try to store it in a ‘safe place’ in our hearts in case we discover its significance later in life.

It is very easy to read the Bible and disregard anything that we deem as irrelevant to our lives here and now, but this verse tells us that all Scripture is God-breathed and is useful. As we read the Scriptures, let us not limit our hunger by our human understanding or the immediate application of it.

The truth is, even if we can’t seem to find the immediate significance in what we read, it will eventually make sense and may even be important later in our lives. If we know the key is there somewhere, we have a Helper to guide us in our search for it: the Holy Spirit longs to reveal more of the Father through the Word. Let’s allow Him to do that so that we can grow and be strong in Him.

Prayer: Father God, thank You for Your Word, which is all useful. Help me not to disregard any of what I read but to store it in the depth of my heart. Help me to understand all of Your Word, through the power of Your Holy Spirit that I may grow strong in You and remain in you forever. Amen.

Life According to the Book - Teaching CD

Start 2010 with Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Joyful Christians

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +0100
John 15:11, NIV
I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.

Jesus has just been speaking to His disciples about being fruitful after His departure. He had spoken about them ‘bearing fruit’, ‘more fruit’ and ‘much fruit’ and He illustrated His talk with examples of a vine and the need for its pruning in order to stimulate fruitfulness. Then said ‘I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete’ (John 15:11).

Sometimes we may find that we’re going through a difficult time and we wonder if we’ll ever recover and get back to the days when we knew God was working in us and using us in fruitful service.

Once my wife and I were going through a particularly testing time in leadership until God revealed what was going on and gave us the wisdom to deal with the matter following biblical guidelines. Shortly after that the congregation began to experience an outpouring of blessing, greater than anything they had ever known before. We knew then we had just been through a pruning process. The end result was an experience of joy and rejoicing as we were drawn closer to each other and to the Lord.

Whatever the nature of the ‘pruning’ it’s always for our good. The writer of Hebrews says, ‘No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it’ (Hebrews 12:11). Or as Paul could say, ‘We also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance, character, and character hope’ (Romans 5:3).

When God’s at work in our lives by His Holy Spirit we know that ‘in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose’ (Romans 8:28), even though at times we may be going through a pruning process.

One of the fruits of the Holy Spirit is joy (Galatians 5:22) and joy doesn’t depend upon our circumstances. So, if we’re going through one of those difficult and testing times, let’s rejoice, and not become despondent. Let’s look up to Jesus, and rejoice in the fact that God is at work in us in order to deal with the things that are unproductive. He can fill us with joy as we see Him making our life more fruitful for His glory.

Prayer: Father God, I thank You that You are patiently working in my life in order that I might become fruitful for You. Please help me to look beyond the difficult time and rejoice that You have something better in store for me and I will experience more of you working through me. Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Fruitful and Gifted - Teaching CD

Fruitful Lives

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +0100
John 15:8, NIV
"This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples."

Spring is here at last in the South of England, and the fruit trees are beginning to bud. We hope there will be no more sharp frosts. The buds are the promise of fruit to come, and the mark of a good tree is the amount and quality of the fruit that grows on it in the year. An old tree that has borne much fruit in its life is highly valued, and its owner mourns when it dies away.

My aunt died recently at the age of 97, and at the thanksgiving service many people came to pay tribute to the fruit she had borne in 88 years of Christian life. They gave testimony to the quality of her life - the caring heart she showed to all, the faithful commitment to those she nursed in Africa whilst a missionary there, the deep concern for her family that she loved so much and above all to the deep prayerfulness of her walk with the Lord. She prayed regularly for everyone she knew, and those who weren’t believers were a special focus for her prayers.

Some people think the mark of a fruitful Christian is how many people you have evangelised or ‘led to the Lord’. I know we are to spread the Gospel with fervour and passion, but not every one of us has the gift of evangelism, although we can all witness to Jesus. I believe being fruitful is showing the character of Jesus in this world and that it’s a responsibility for us all. When people met with my Aunt, they met with Jesus in her, not just a lovely lady. When people meet with me I wonder how often they see Jesus in me, and how often they don’t!

Jesus tells us that the sign of discipleship is fruitfulness, and this is to the Father’s glory. I pray that people will remember me for my fruit, not just anything I did. And I don’t want to be discarded by the Lord as being a fruitless branch when I meet Him in glory. I want those buds of spring to turn into summer fruitfulness, lasting for the whole of my life.

Prayer: Lord, thank You for the saints around us who are such wonderful ‘fruit trees’ for You. Thank You for their example and encouragement to us. Help us to nurture the fruit of Holy Spirit in our own lives, so that we may be Your witnesses and truly bring glory to You. Amen.

Fruitful and Gifted - Teaching CD by Jim Graham

Start 2010 with Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Hidden with Christ in God

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +0100
Colossians 3: 1 – 3, Amp.
If then you have been raised with Christ to a new life, thus sharing His resurrection from the dead, aim at and seek the rich, eternal treasures that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. And set your minds, and keep them set, on what is above, not on the things that are on the earth. For as far as this world is concerned you have died, and your new, real life is hidden with Christ in God.

In Malcolm Smith’s book ‘The Power of the Blood Covenant there is a marvellous story about a lady who had a bad habit of gossiping. No matter how hard she tried, she always fell for temptation when it arose and was in despair of ever overcoming it. She felt completely powerless until Malcolm Smith suggested that instead of saying ‘no’ to temptation, she said ‘yes’ to Jesus.

She was utterly transformed as she began allowing the Holy Spirit to take care of this struggle for her. She conquered that bad habit, but it wasn’t in her own strength. It was in the strength of her ‘new, real life’ which was ‘hidden in Christ’. She even turned it to good by praying blessings upon the members of her church, particularly those she had gossiped about in the past.

Maybe we struggle to overcome some bad habit, something which has kept us bound for years and we feel powerless against it. Perhaps we could begin to say ‘yes’ to Jesus, and put the struggle in His hands. He says that His yoke is easy and His burden is light. ‘Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light’ (Matthew 11: 29-30).

By allowing Him to work in us and through us we’ll find He gives us strength to overcome temptations as they arise instead of having to battle in our own strength.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, I’m aware that I struggle to overcome certain habits. Please forgive me, and enable me to hand over my struggles to You, so that through the power of Your Holy Spirit working in me, I can be an overcomer. I look forward to seeing transformation in my life! Thank You, Lord, Amen.

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Fire and Billows of Smoke

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +0100
Acts 2:18-21, NIV
Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

God has flicked his little finger and the world has been thrown into chaos! As I write these words the United Kingdom and much of Europe is entering its third day as a ‘no-fly zone’. A minor volcano has erupted in Iceland and thrown millions of tons of fine ash into the atmosphere. This silica ash turns to liquid glass in the heat of a jet engine, seizing the engine and making it incredibly dangerous for jet aeroplanes. No airline would knowingly take a plane through such a cloud. The effects would be catastrophic.

So the world – or, at least, Northern Europe which is covered by this almost invisible cloud of fine ash – has been brought to a humiliating stand-still, costing the airlines alone over 150 million pounds per day. As the Daily Mail said, ‘Even a modest rumbling in the underworld is enough to throw a gigantic spanner into the works of modern life!’ Mount Laki, a much larger volcano in Iceland erupted in 1783. According to a recent Cambridge University study, the after effects of this eruption killed over 10,000 people in England alone. If Laki were to erupt today, flying would be banned in the whole of the Northern Hemisphere, not just for a few days, but for months, bringing the whole world to its knees.

I wonder what the Apostle Peter thought about the words of our Scripture for today, which he quoted from the prophet Joel on the Day of Pentecost? The days he was talking about, the last days, are the days we are living in. How do you interpret the heavenly signs and wonders, including ‘fire and billows of smoke’? The pictures of the erupting volcano can only be described with these exact words – fire and billows of smoke are throwing the ash thousands of feet into the atmosphere. Insurance companies are excusing themselves from paying out on travel policies as this is declared by them to be ‘an Act of God’!

As I read how the world is sensibly not flying through the ash cloud because of the great danger. The Lord turned me to our Scripture and then spoke to my spirit a lesson that I will never forget. This is what I sensed the Lord saying:

Because of the danger to aircraft and the life of passengers and crew, no-one would even consider flying through such a dangerous cloud. But every day the people of the world are flying through clouds of spiritual darkness, immorality and sinful lifestyles, without any thought whatsoever as to the damage it might be causing them. The volcanic ash will only seize the engine of an aeroplane, the spiritual cloud of darkness will bring down to destruction the souls of men. The eyes of the world have been blinded, by the god of this world, to the consequences of living in rebellion to the living God, and not walking in His ways.

I sensed the weeping of the Heavenly Father as He looked at a world that listens to the warning messages from the scientists and weathermen, but ignores the messages that were given to the world by His only Son and the prophets of God. I found myself praying that in these days there will be those who see what is happening and start to ask the right questions. And that when they read of the ‘fire and billows of smoke’, that have brought nations to their knees, they will turn to the God who answers the cry of our heart when, in humility, we fall to our knees in repentance.

Prayer: Lord, during these awesome days, I pray there will be many who will see the signs in the sky, turn to You in their hearts and begin to cry out to You for answers to the issues and problems of their lives. Help me, Lord, to always remember how dangerous it is to ‘fly’ through clouds of sin, knowing that to do so seizes the engine of my soul, and prevents me from fulfilling my destiny. I come to you afresh today in repentance and ask you to forgive me for all my sins. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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God's Prophetic Agenda - For the End of Days - Book by Johannes Facius

Living the Life - Book by Peter Horrobin

Trust the Wise Judge

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +0100
1 Peter 2:23, NIV
When they hurled insults at Him, He did not retaliate. When He suffered He made no threats. Instead He trusted Himself to Him who judges justly.

At some time or other we are all falsely accused and suffer at the hands of someone who wrongly judges us. When people speak wrongly of us the human temptation is often to retaliate or defend ourselves. Our attitude can be exactly the opposite to that of the Lord Jesus.

In His darkest hour on the cross, when He was mocked, spat upon and insulted, and where He suffered and died in agony, He didn’t retaliate, threaten or judge. He entrusted Himself to the Father who is the true and just judge.

Jesus warned His disciples of the folly of hypocritically or self-righteously judging others. As human beings it’s easy to make a wrong judgment. There’s a very narrow line between judging and discerning. Discernment is a gift of the Holy Spirit and should be used wisely.

What a lot of anguish we’d save ourselves if our attitude were the same as that of the One we profess to follow. Like Jesus, we can trust ourselves to the wise Judge. Whatever people may say against us, they can only damage our reputation. But God’s more interested in our character than our reputation. Our character is the truth of what we are in the eyes of the one who judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

Prayer:Heavenly Father, Thank You for Jesus, whose attitude was humble and lowly. Forgive me for the times when I’ve retaliated when others have wrongly judged me, and for the times I have wrongly judged others. Help me to live my life in the light of Your presence, with confidence that You’re the One who judges justly. Amen.

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Follow the Radical Jesus - Teaching CD

The Simplicity and Beauty of the Gospel

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +0100
James 4:8, NIV
Cleanse your hands, you sinners and purify your hearts.

“Your hands have gone blue, are you alright?” my friend asked me in a concerned voice. I looked and was about to dismiss her comment when my other friend said, “oh yes, your hands do look blue.” Both of them stared at my hands with worried faces. Later that day, yet another friend noticed my hands were blue. This time, my husband took notice and he rang a doctor friend. One of our team took photographs of my hands on his mobile phone and these were duly sent to the doctor. By now it was quite late at night. The reply came back and the advice was to seek help from the National Health Service helpline.

I was feeling fine but my husband insisted we phoned as “this could be serious.” By now I was being asked all kinds of questions about my health and passed from one advisor to another. Incredibly, and at a very late hour, I was asked to go by car to the local hospital. We set off to the hospital. All the time I was feeling fine. Whilst at the hospital, I answered the various routine questions and the duty doctor examined my hands, listened to my heart, took my blood pressure and looked in my ears and throat. There was absolutely nothing which gave him concern and he explained that this was a peripheral condition, possibly due to the cold weather, and not one that I needed to worry about.

We returned home relieved and yet puzzled as to what it could be. Tired following a long day, I was glad to have a quick wash and climb into bed. Whilst in the bathroom soaping my hands and face, I noticed a blue/grey tinge on the soap and then as I dried my hands with the towel – there it was! Blue streaks all over the white towel and, as if by magic, my hands had returned to pink!

I sheepishly confessed to my husband that the problem had been dye on my hands all along! But how did it get there? We could hardly sleep as we went through all the various possibilities. The following day the mystery was still with us until a new person hearing the story said, “have your bought any new jeans lately?” “Yes, I exclaimed!” Suddenly everything made sense!

How stupid I felt. How easy it was to let something small grow into something out of all proportion until it escalated into an emergency. How did we all get so carried along and buy into the problem! How did we miss the obvious! I felt even more embarrassed when telling my daughter the tale, she replied, “oh mum why didn’t you ring me, I would have told you, it was your jeans!”

I wonder how many of us perceive something to be true in terms of our problems and begin to take on board worry and even panic. We grow the situation in our minds and others help us grow it out of their misperception of the situation. It may be a healing issue which has become enormous in our mind and we imagine that it will need a whole range of treatment. However, when the real diagnosis is revealed it is simple and the treatment is profound. Just as the stain of the blue jeans came off my hands on to the towel with washing and cleansing, so can our stain of sin be washed and cleansed and taken by the Lord Jesus. All it needs is recognition and confession!

Sometimes we go around the problem thinking we have to fix it and change it ourselves. We don’t naturally or easily accept the simplicity of the stain of our sin. I was somehow deceived into accepting the sympathy and concern of others and building on their concern. I missed the root of the problem which would have saved me and others much embarrassment. I think the lesson of this story is to identify the stain of sin and to humbly receive forgiveness and cleansing before we look for deeper reasons for our problems.

Prayer: I’m sorry, Lord Jesus, that when I have difficulties I so easily look for my own solutions and to others for their solutions. Please help me to see my stain of sin and to come to You with my need for cleansing as the first priority. Thank You for being my remedy and paying the price for my freedom. Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Creativity and Healing - Teaching CD

The Parables of Harris - Book by Peter and Fiona Horrobin

His Father Saw Him

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +0100
Luke 15:20, NKJV
And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.

God our Father sees us, even if we’re a great way off. When He sees us coming to Him it’s as if He runs towards us, just as the father did in the story that Jesus tells in Luke 15.

Every time my son visits me I’m watching and waiting for him. I love to see him and communicate with him. It’s one of my greatest delights. And when I don’t see him for a long time I feel sad. But this teaches me how God must feel when I’m too busy to spend precious time with Him and respond to His love.

He sees us when we worship Him. ‘For the eyes of the Lord search back and forth across the whole earth, looking for people whose hearts are perfect towards him, so that he can show his great power in helping them’ (2 Chronicles 16:9). Do you ever sing words in Church without thinking what they really mean? So often I find myself carried along singing the words of songs with everybody else but my heart is far away.

Often I can spend more time searching the Scriptures than actually connecting to Jesus. Yet He’s the Word of God, the Living Word. In His presence the Scripture brings a personal message for me. The Holy Spirit makes the Word come alive in my heart. Jesus said to the Jews, ‘You search the Scriptures for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me, But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life’ (John 5:39-40).

Jesus really wants us to understand the beauty of relationship. Think about the glorious relationship between the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. There is perfect unity and perfect love in the Godhead.

Our Lord always initiates this relationship of love with His people and like the story of ‘the Lost Sheep’ He will always go after the one that’s lost, for His love knows no limits (Luke 15:1-7). God promises His people Israel, ‘I will seek that which was lost, and bring back that which was driven away, bind up the broken hearted and strengthen what was sick’ (Ezekiel 3:16).

Prayer: Thank You, Lord, that You found me, and brought me back to the fold. May I never forget where I came from and how much it cost You. Help me always to stay connected to You. In Jesus’ Name.

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Living as Children of the Father - Teaching CD

We want to see Jesus

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +0100
John 12:20-22, NLT
Some Greeks who had come to Jerusalem to attend the Passover paid a visit to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee. They said, “Sir, we want to meet Jesus.” Philip told Andrew about it, and they went together to ask Jesus.

On Easter Sunday morning I had the privilege of worshipping with several hundred other people. It was a wonderful time of joy and celebration as songs of worship and praise to Jesus rang out with the sure and certain knowledge that He is alive.

On the first Easter Day Mary Magdalene arrived at the empty tomb. She thought the body of Jesus had been stolen. She was in despair until she met the risen Jesus. Overwhelmed with joy, she found the disciples and told them the good news; “I have seen the Lord.” The recipients of the good news were “Mourning and weeping and they did not believe her.”

In the evening of Easter Day Jesus appeared to His disciples who were locked in a room for fear of the Jews. The risen Jesus appeared to them but Thomas was missing. When they later told Thomas the good news, he didn’t believe it. He needed to see for himself in order to believe.

We all need to see Jesus for ourselves. To see Jesus is not simply to know what He’s done for us – that knowledge brings us to salvation. To see Jesus is to really grasp the wonder of who He is. This brings a deep response in the human heart to know Him more, to love Him better and to serve Him more worthily.

Like the first disciples, our vision of Jesus can be blurred. Despair, sorrow or fear can stand in the way of us seeing Him clearly.

To see Jesus is to worship Him, and He alone is worthy of our worship.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, I want to see You more clearly today. Thank You that You’re alive and You’re with me. Whatever comes into my life today please help me to fix my eyes on You, knowing that the power which raised You from the dead is available to me, because I believe in You. Amen.

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Follow the Radical Jesus - Teaching CD

I Believe

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +0100
John 20:31, NIV
These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you might have life in His name.

I once heard a man say that he didn’t believe in the existence of Australia! Before all the Ozzies get annoyed, he went on to say that he didn’t believe it – he knew it existed, so he didn’t need to believe. Maybe he was being a bit picky over words. However there is a point to it. I don’t just believe about the existence of Jesus, because I believe in Jesus and I know He exists.

When the chief priests went to Pilate with their concerns about the possibility of Jesus’ body being stolen after his Crucifixion, they were actually expressing something they believed about Jesus. They said it was because they were afraid the disciples might steal His body. Yet the followers of Jesus didn’t understand about the resurrection until after it had happened, and even then some doubted. I think the chief priests must have believed in the possibility of Jesus rising from the dead but they didn’t want to admit it publicly.

The soldiers too believed that Jesus was no longer dead in the tomb, which is why they went to the authorities and had to be bribed to keep quiet. They didn’t yet believe in Jesus, but they believed something rather radical about Him.

John’s Gospel tells us that belief is more than accepting a set of facts. Believing in Jesus is a dynamic thing which leads to eternal life. ‘These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you might have life in His name (John 20:31).

Believing in this way is an expression of faith not just head knowledge. As we reflect on the resurrection let’s make the faith statement that we believe in Jesus. Praise God that by believing we have life in His name!

Prayer: Thank You, Jesus, that although Your Resurrection is a fact, Your Risen presence is a certainty we can believe in. Thank You that because You’re alive we live. By Your Holy Spirit, Jesus, keep us dynamic in our believing as we have relationship with You, now and for ever. Amen.

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Forgiveness, God's MasterKey - Book by Peter Horrobin

Let Go!

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +0100
Hebrews 12:1. NIV
Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.

I was driving along a country lane recently when I came across a bird of prey in the middle of the road, feasting on the remains of a dead rabbit. The bird tried to fly out of danger with the rabbit in its talons, but it was not able to take off quickly enough while carrying such a weight. It was obviously very reluctant to leave its meal behind, but finally, with my car nearly upon it, it abandoned the dead rabbit and flew off out of danger.

It made me think of how often we put ourselves at risk because we’re reluctant to let go of the things our carnal nature wants to hang on to. Romans 8:13 tells us: ‘If you live by the carnal nature you will die.’ The bird nearly lost its life because it wouldn’t let go. When we hold on to the things our flesh desires, which may be besetting sins, worldly pleasures and greed or lust of any kind, we can separate ourselves from God and the blessings that He has for us. We may also put ourselves in danger as we open ourselves up to the enemy to have a foothold in our lives.

Are you holding on to anything today that is jeopardising your walk with God? Is there something that God has been asking you to let go of? Let’s resolve to do as the writer of Hebrews urges, and ‘throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.’

Prayer: Lord, please forgive me for holding on to things that hinder my walk with You. Help me to let go of everything that is holding me back from fullness of life in You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

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NETS Training Scheme

Temporary or Permanent?

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +0100
Hebrews 13;14, NIV
For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.

When D.L.Moody, perhaps the most effective evangelist of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, was about to die, his final words to those who sat at his bedside were: “Earth is receding, heaven is approaching. This is my crowning day!”

No-one worked harder all his life for the glory of the King while he lived in his earthly tent in this temporary city. But no-one was more certain of the permanence of the place he was going to. He was looking forward to enjoying the glory of God, in the city that is to come for all those who are trusting in Jesus. Jesus is the only One who ever walked this earth who had been there, could give us a first-hand account of its reality and who promised to go back there and prepare a special place for each one of us, in the place where He would be (John 14:1-4).

Every other religious leader that there has ever been has had to speculate about what lay beyond the grave. Jesus is the only one who never had to speculate about Heaven – it was His home before He came to earth and dwelled among us for a season. It was more real to Him than anything else. So much so that in His final time of private prayer on earth, in the Garden of Gethsemane, He was excited at the prospect of returning to share in the glory He had with the father before the world began (John 17:5).

The enemy tempts us to look at the world’s realities and focus our attention on them and cling on to them as if they are secure and permanent. But the reality is that for everyone who has died, earth’s securities proved inadequate for the journey that lay ahead of them and the graveyards of the world are adequate testimony to the fact of what we read in Hebrews that ‘here we have no enduring city’! It has always seemed strange to me that most people focus all their attention on trying to secure their earthly future, even though they know that it cannot go on forever, and put off till it’s too late their preparations for the destination that will be permanent and eternal.

I am praying as I write these words that we will be personally so impacted by the significance of this verse from Hebrews, that we will determine to live out our days in this temporary home in fellowship with the One, who came from Heaven, and witnessed so powerfully to its permanence. He is the only way to Heaven and He will be our guide when we get there!

Prayer: Thank You, Lord, for telling us so clearly about the realities of the place You had come from, and for so blessing us with the fact that You want us to join You there in a permanent city! Help me to live out my days in this temporary city, not only blessing You by being obedient to Your word, but realising that to live like that also equips me for the joys of eternity with you. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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Finishing Well - Teaching CD

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The Tongue Has the Power of life and Death 2

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +0100
Proverbs 18:21, NIV
The tongue has the power of life and death and those who love it will eat its fruit.

Continuing the theme of the power of words to bring life or death, today I have another question. Do you remember any words spoken to you which brought death? Death of hope. Death to your spirit.

Perhaps you heard this sort of thing as a child: You are hopeless! No-one will want to marry you! Why can’t you be like your sister (or brother)? You’re stupid. You’re no use!

Why not take a moment to ask Jesus to bring to your mind any words that were spoken about you which cut your heart.

When such words come from people we love and trust, it hurts so much more. Also words carry more power when they come from someone in authority - because we are more likely to believe what they say. Have you ever spoken to God about it? Have you ever said ‘I forgive that person’?

Now someone may say - well I don’t really need to forgive because what they said about me is true. I wonder if you’ve ever thought of really sitting down and questioning whether some of those words are actually true. True by God’s definition of truth.

They might feel true! Feelings aren’t always right however. Does the Bible say ‘if you feel something is true then it is true’? No, I can’t think of any verse that says that!

So what is God’s definition of truth? John 1:17 says ..truth came through Jesus Christ. Jesus said ‘I tell you the truth’ at least 80 times. And ‘I am the way, the truth and the life.’ So if we want to know the truth, we can look at the Bible and see what Jesus says about us. What does He say about you? You could ask Him to show you.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, I was cut inside when that person said those words about me. I think I did believe it. If this was not Your truth about me then I’m asking You to show me. I forgive them for what they said. I ask You to remove any negative spiritual power from those words. Your words are life, Your words are loving and kind. Please speak Your words about me. Thank You. Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Forgiveness, God's MasterKey - Book by Peter Horrobin

The Tongue has the Power of Life and Death - Part 1

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +0100
Proverbs 18:21, NIV
The tongue has the power of life and death and those who love it will eat its fruit.

Did you know that you have the power of life and death? Perhaps that comes as a surprise? Today’s verse from Proverbs 18 says that you have the power of life and death and so do I. That power is in our words. What we say can have that sort of effect on someone.

Can you remember any words which brought life to you? Perhaps it was when someone told you about the hope of eternal life in Jesus. Perhaps it was an encouraging comment which strengthened you just when you most needed it. Kind words bring life to us when we are anxious or distressed. And prayer is powerful. Can you bring life to someone you know today through your words?

The second part of the Proverb says that those who love it (the tongue) will eat its fruit. Perhaps you know someone who loves to talk. It might be you! The issue is not really how much we talk but whether our words are bringing life or death. If we love to build other people up with our words, we will eat the fruit of that one day. The fruit will be life.

On the other hand, if we love to demonstrate our own ‘rightness’ by explaining to our friends our detailed understanding of exactly how a third party is getting things wrong, we will eat the fruit one day – the fruit of death. Death in relationships and opportunities.

Who will want to share their heart with me if they hear me criticising someone else? Subconsciously my friend will be reluctant to share her really vulnerable places with me if I do that, because I’m demonstrating my ability to pull someone apart rather than build someone up.

James 3:2 is reassuring. It says: ‘We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check’.

God doesn’t have impossible standards for us- He knows we all stumble frequently. I definitely do.

What can we do? I read about a lady who went on a fast. It was a fast from saying anything negative. No negative words for a week. She said it was excruciatingly difficult, but so valuable. I wonder if the Lord might be speaking to me? How about you?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You for the people in my life. Please forgive me for the many times when I have spoken words that did not bring life. Please help me to build people up with my words today. I really mean it. I would appreciate Your help. Thank You so much for Your love. Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Living the Life - DVD Series. Great for House Groups.

The cross

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +0100
Romans 6:6, GNB
And we know that our old being has been put to death with Christ on His Cross, in order that that power of the sinful self might be destroyed, so that we should no longer be the slaves of sin.

In the Good News version of the Bible we read ‘And we know that our old being has been put to death with Christ on His Cross, in order that that power of the sinful self might be destroyed, so that we should no longer be the slaves of sin’ (Romans 6:6). There’s also an artist’s illustration which always speaks very powerfully to me. It shows a man in three stages: the first carrying a heavy burden on his back and dressed in grey clothes; the second shows him laying his burden at the foot of the Cross and the third walking away from the Cross, upright and in white clothing.

This is an amazing picture of what Jesus has done for us on the Cross and at this time of year it’s good to reflect on what it means for us. I don’t think we shall ever fully understand the magnitude of His sacrifice for us, but we can grasp at least a part of its meaning.

So many of us carry hurts and pains from the past, wounding that goes deep, often way back into our childhood, but Jesus took all that into Himself, along with our sinful behaviour, our unforgiveness and our bitterness. I remember praying with a lady who had been severely abused by her father and brothers and found it hard to bear the shameful memory of them seeing her in her nakedness. She felt that Jesus couldn’t possibly understand that until I pointed out to her that He had been strung up on the Cross, naked, for all to see. It was a turning point for her, as she was able to release all her feelings of shame to Him and feel free of it for the first time.

What we so often do is thank Jesus for taking all our pain and sin and we lay it down at the Cross temporarily, but then pick it up again and walk off with it! Of course it isn’t as easy as it sounds and it may take some time, but may this be a time when we really let go of the wounding and allow Jesus to bear it for us.

Prayer: Precious Jesus, Thank You so much for what You’ve done for me on the Cross. Thank You that You understand everything about me. I don’t understand fully what the Cross means, but I give You my hurt and pain, and all my sinful behaviour, and ask that You would help me to remember that You’ve paid for it all. I’m so grateful, Amen.

Sarah - Testimony of Sarah's journey from an abusive childhood to a life of hope and freedom

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Be still

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +0100
Psalm 46:10, NIV
Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.

I wonder how often we’ve heard this verse quoted and good sermons preached on the subject of being still. I have myself spoken a number of times about the verse, but recently had an opportunity of rediscovering how hard it is ‘to be still and know’.

I was required to lie still for about an hour whilst undergoing some tests in hospital, and being ‘still’ meant being absolutely motionless whilst confined within a narrow tube-like scanner. I thought I would maybe sleep a little, which proved impossible with the noise, or perhaps pray a lot, which again was thwarted by occasional words from the machine operator via my headphones. The worst thing however was the intrusion of the desire to scratch an itch on my nose, to cough, to move my eyes to something more interesting, or simply to forget to lie still!

It made me think again about how hard it is to focus on God in everyday life. We teach about God-centred living, taking captive our thoughts and so on, but the reality is that ‘life’ intrudes and distracts us. So didn’t God expect that to happen when He inspired the Psalmist to write these words? Is it an impossible requirement that we can never hope to fulfil?

My take on the matter is that God is fully aware of all the distractions of life, and there are times when He doesn’t expect us to be ‘super-spiritual’ so that when we fail we can beat ourselves up again and need yet another ‘Healing Retreat’. Maybe the answer is to commit our times to the Lord, asking Him to be with us in the everyday distractions, so that the inner peace is not robbed, the distractions don’t become stumbling blocks, and when all is done we may still know that He is God. My restlessness in the scanner didn’t stop him being my Lord and God. I’m not condemned for my itchy nose or twitchy fingers! In fact I knew a special peace in the process rather than claustrophobic fear and thus the presence of my Lord was with me.

Perhaps being still is about resting in Jesus in the noise of everyday life, and knowing that He’s always God, even in the frustrations and distractions.

Prayer: Lord, You have been our dwelling place through all generations, and I know that won’t stop just because the world is a noisy and distracting place. Please help me to remember Your presence in all circumstances and to derive peace from that knowledge when I find it hard to be still. Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Forgiveness - The Master Key - Book by Peter Horrobin

You Also Ought to Wash One Another's Feet

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +0100
John 13:14-15, ESV
If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.

Peter certainly didn’t understand what Jesus was doing when He started to wash his dirty feet on that evening they were celebrating Passover. Jesus told him he would understand it later. Jesus explained that, even though He was the leader, He could humble Himself and take the place of a servant to them, out of love. How Jesus must have longed for them to get the message! Once before He’d told them ‘But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all’ (Mark 10:43-44). He wanted them to follow His example in loving and serving one another and said ‘If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them’ (John 13:17).

After Judas had gone away to betray Jesus to His enemies Jesus taught them many other things and He started by giving them a great commandment. ‘A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another’ (John 13:34).

I find this teaching of Jesus is so easy to understand. But it’s not so easy for me to put it into practice. I wonder whether I can really believe those words of Jesus, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive’ (Acts 20:35).

I may not be required to literally wash the dirty feet of my friends and colleagues but the principle of it remains. Can I do acts of service out of a loving heart without grumbling or complaining? Can I make an effort to serve the needs of others and do it to the extent that I find pleasure and satisfaction in it?

Prayer: Dear Heavenly father, I want to be more like Jesus and follow His example. I know it means dying to self and looking for opportunities to bless others. Help me not to be too lazy or indifferent to the needs of others. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Blessed is he who watches

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +0100
Revelation 16:15, NKJ
Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame.

The words ‘Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame’ suddenly appear in Revelation Chapter 16 after six of the seven bowls of God’s wrath have been poured out on the earth and the greatest earthquake of all time is about to happen. I don’t know exactly the time this verse refers to or which believers it applies to but, whatever time it is, I know I must be watching for the Lords’ return, covered with the robes that He’s provided for me. Jesus is saying ‘Blessed is he who watches’. I must watch that there’s nothing that I’m going to be ashamed of as I stand before Him, before others, or before the enemy. I pray that I can keep my heart clean.

I’m fascinated by the way Meer Kats keep watch over their clan. They sit with their heads high watching in every direction for the slightest movement of any predator, because their lives depend on it. O that we could keep watch with such vigilance! The enemy of our souls is very subtle and can creep up on us unawares. I caught my two and a half year old granddaughter bowing to the sun and the trees because the children on the TV programme were encouraged to do so by ‘the little flower people’. ‘You do it’, they said, and she did it. I explained to her that we must only bow to God, who made everything.

So as well as watching for the Lords’ return, we should also watch over our family. There are so many children’s games appearing in the shops and on the media that have underlying evil motives. The other day I saw an attractive looking book, a guide for teenagers, which on a closer look contained a spell for everything and was written by a witch. Some things are not even subtle any more.

So let’s keep constantly watching, ‘looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works’ (Titus 2:13-14).

Prayer: Dear Lord, Keep me ever watching and waiting, ready for your coming. Even so come Lord Jesus. Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

ShepherdLove Series - Books/CDs by Pam Smith

Victory in the face of defeat

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +0100
Matthew 28:7, NIV
He has risen from the dead, and is going ahead of you.

Just when it seems like all is lost, hope is fading and defeat is looming, God steps in and delivers His masterpiece. Time and again throughout Scripture God steps in with His great plan of salvation.

The day Jesus died and the day He rose again were days like no other, for during this time He won the ultimate victory and conquered all the powers of hell forever. He defeated, disarmed and made a public spectacle of them. He triumphed over all the forces of evil by the cross. He rescued us.

It was during this most momentous and pivotal of weeks in history, when God turned, what to man looked like utter defeat, into the most glorious victory ever to be witnessed in time and eternity.

Maybe you are facing some great test or trial, the outlook looks bleak, you have been backed into a corner and don't know what to do or where to turn, you seem to be staring defeat in the face. Today, the Lord of Glory wants you to know that He is with you and is able to deliver you. He is mighty to save (Zephaniah 3:17). Call on Him and He will not only defeat your enemies, He will vindicate you. You are His precious child and He will always come to your aid. Jesus is the Victor!

Prayer: Heavenly Father, Our eyes are on You and we put our trust in You for You are our deliverer. Thank You, Lord, for always hearing our prayer and coming to our rescue. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Forgiveness, God's Master Key - Book by Peter Horrobin

Opened eyes

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +0100
Luke 24:16, NKJV
But their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know him.

A while ago I had my eyes checked and was given a new prescription for lenses. Shortly after I had these new glasses I noticed my sight was blurred and I was having trouble seeing clearly. When I had my eyes rechecked I was told that I was given the wrong prescription. It made me think that just like me with my wrong prescription it’s possible to go through life with blurred vision, seeing but not perceiving, seeing with eyes that are restrained or kept from seeing correctly. We live in a fallen world. We can get grit in our eyes from the dirtiness of the world. It’s often for that reason we see in part and don’t fully see Jesus for who He is. But sometimes God hides things from our sight as He hid Jesus from the disciples on the Emmaus road (Luke 24:13-35). Either way, we don’t see as we should and need God to open our eyes and minds. We can walk along life’s road not recognising that it’s Jesus who’s walking besides us and speaking to us along the way, showing us truths if we could but see them.

As with the two disciples journeying along the road to Emmaus, we can receive the Word of God but still not see what’s there in front of us. Jesus wants to open our spiritual eyes as He did with them, so that we might fully comprehend the Scriptures and see with new understanding.

Let’s ask Jesus to give us a new holy vision so that our spiritual sight might be opened and we can see the Word with a new set of ‘opened eyes’.

Prayer: Dear Lord, help me to see, to really see. Lord, I sometimes see Your Scripture in part, because my vision is restrained from seeing correctly. Would You open my eyes, and clear my vision, so that I can fully see and understand all that You have for me? I want to have the eyes of my heart opened so I can understand and comprehend Your Scriptures and enter into Your truths revealed to me. Thank You, Jesus! Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

This is a day of good news!

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +0100
2 Kings 7:9, NIV
We’re not doing right. This is a day of good news and we are keeping it to ourselves.

In 2 Kings 7 we read how Samaria had been under siege for some time, their food had all gone and people were starving. When God caused the besieging armies of Aram to hear noises that made them think the Samaritans had somehow got other armies to come to their rescue, they fled at night leaving everything behind!

The next day, four leprous men discovered the abandoned camp with its wealth and food, and after beginning to enjoy the spoils they felt guilty, and said, ‘We’re not doing right. This is a day of good news and we are keeping it to ourselves’ (2 Kings 7:9). God had convicted them that the people in the city should also enjoy the spoils.

Sometimes we may be a bit like those people in Samaria when we’ve experienced God’s intervention in our own life, and He’s delivered us from the oppression of the devil and saved us. We’re also like those lepers because we’ve discovered God’s provision of nourishment and riches for our soul. He’s not only saved us from the oppressor, but He’s also given us all we need for our spiritual good, our sustenance and our blessing. These are things He wants us to share with the people who we know are struggling to survive.

When we’ve experienced God working in our life like that we need to be reminded of the words that Jesus said, ‘You are the light of the world …Let your light shine before men’ (Matthew 5:14, and 16). So for us to keep to ourselves what God has done for us ‘is not doing right’.

After Jesus had healed a man and delivered him of evil spirits, He said, ‘Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how He has had mercy on you’ (Mark 5:19).

Only you know the kind of bondage you may have been delivered from. When we’ve known God’s saving power in our life we’ve got such good news to tell others about what He can do for them also, through Jesus. This is the ‘good news’ of the Gospel that’s too good to keep to ourselves.

There’s a song with the refrain:

‘It is no secret what God can do.

What He’s done for others, He’ll do for you.

With arms wide open He’ll welcome you!

It is no secret what God can do’.

God wants us to go and share the good things He’s done for us with others and let them know that Jesus loves them just as much as He loves us, for ‘this is a day of good news, and it is not good to be keeping it to yourself’.

Prayer: O Lord God, thank You for what You’ve done for me, giving Jesus to save me. Thank You for all the blessings I’ve received since trusting Jesus as my Saviour. Please give me the sensitivity and courage to tell others of what Jesus means to me and how He longs to bless them also. Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Evangelism and Healing - Teaching CD

In God’s Eyes

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +0100
1 Samuel 16:7, NIV
But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.

Every morning, before I go out of my room, it’s my habit to look at myself in the mirror as I’m sure others do as well. If I don’t look at myself I won’t have enough confidence. My physical appearance is what I can see, but the inside I can’t see also determines a lot about how I will feel during the day. Maybe this morning you looked at yourself in the mirror. How did you see yourself?

The pressures of the world are so focussed on how one looks physically and many people are focussed on physical looks more than what’s on the inside. Many people are crushed spiritually and emotionally on the inside.

Our eyes can have a distorted view because they only see the physical. But we also have spiritual eyes with which we can look at ourselves. These eyes look at us the way God sees us.

God tells Samuel to go into the house of Jesse and anoint a king to lead in place of Saul. I can almost visualize the elder Sons of Jesse standing in a queue waiting for the oil of Kingship. They were in Saul’s army, and they must have been very strong men. Yet when the Lord looked at them there was none who was to be king among them. He firmly instructs Samuel not to look at their appearance but the heart. David who was younger became the Lord’s anointed.

This Scripture gives me insight on the way God looks at us, He sees sons and daughters bought by the blood of His Son Jesus Christ. He sees Princes and princesses who can administer His authority over powers of darkness. He sees you as a conqueror.

God’s word is the mirror that shows us how God looks at us. It’s His love letter to all His children. In His word, He encourages, instructs, rebukes, corrects, promises and fulfils His will in our lives so that we can be transformed and conformed to His image (see Romans 8).

Everyday make it your purpose to look at yourself as God looks at you and not as you see yourself or as the world sees you. God loves you.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, Thank You for Your love and care to me. Thank You for making me, me. Please open my eyes to see myself as You see me. Show me the truths of Your word and transform me to be more like You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Acceptance and Belonging 1 - Teaching CD

Led into God’s Purposes

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100
Deuteronomy 6:23, NIV
But he brought us out from there to bring us in and give us the land that he promised on oath to our forefathers.

These words of Moses to Israel just after he had reminded them of the LORD’S commandments spoke with freshness to me as I read them one morning. They reminded me of how God has led and directed my wife and myself into a ministry of healing and deliverance.

From infancy I attended Sunday School and learned about the things Jesus taught and did, and how Jesus sent out His disciples to go and do the same. I longed to have the same experience that those disciples and the early church had when they saw miracles happen, but I became aware that there was a missing dimension to my Christian life. I wanted to be brought out of that barren place into the place those early Christians had experienced

My wife and I, along with a group of friends began to search for what we felt was missing, yet at the time were not fully aware of what that might be. We would meet together each month to pray and search the Scriptures as we tried to understand what it was we were seeking. Then the Lord came to us all in different ways and eventually my wife, our children and myself experienced the Holy Spirit’s power coming upon us.

The Lord had been gradually leading us into a new experience of Himself at work in our lives and showing us that we too could experience His power at work to deliver people who were bound and to bring healing to those who were sick. He had truly ‘brought us out from there to bring us in’ to a new experience of Himself and His power to work out His purposes, Hallelujah!

Even today, many years later, we regularly thank God for the foundation laid in those early years of Sunday School teaching, and for those godly teachers who taught us so much of His Word. We still pray that the eyes of many more people might be opened to recognise the dimension that is available to us all through the Holy Spirit.

Let us take to heart the words of Jesus who said, ‘Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find’ (Matthew 7:7), and, ‘When He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all truth’ (John 16:13). Then let’s ask that He might open our eyes and behold the wonderful things God can do when we respond to His leading.

Prayer: Father God, thank You for sending Your Holy Spirit to be my counsellor and guide. Please forgive me if I have been blind or deaf and have not recognised or listened to Him as He has tried to lead me in Your ways. Please fill me to overflowing with all that you have for me through Your Holy Spirit, I pray, Amen.

Dynamic Praying - Teaching CD

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Abound in Hope

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100
Romans 15:13, NKJ
Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

The apostle Paul wrote to the Christian believers in Rome and said he was praying that they would abound in hope and bring this hope to others ‘Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit’ (Romans 15:13).

When we know Jesus in our life we discover the mystery of the Gospel, which is ‘Christ in you, the hope of glory’. We begin to see His glory and all that He is and receive the joy and hope in believing. One of the saddest things in the world is to have no hope. I hear people described as ‘no hopers’, but I believe that there’s hope for everyone, whatever place they’re in. It’s those very ‘ones’ that Jesus wants to redeem and restore, although many would pass them by.

Sometimes a kind word, a few moments of time to listen, a caring touch, a small gift or a prayer for them as we go by may be part of a chain of events that lead that person to Jesus. When they know that someone really cares, it gives them a reason to hope.

When Jesus touches someone with His love you can see the light of hope that comes into their eyes, as their spirit responds to His love. There’s great comfort in God’s hope, whatever troubles we face. In Hosea we read that the Lord turns the Valley of Trouble into ‘a Door of Hope’, (Hosea 2:15).

We can only ‘abound in hope’ by the power of the Holy Spirit. His power within us causes us to know things for certain, and we have a hope that is eternal, for, as Christians, we don’t only have a hope in this earthly life.

‘This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil’ (Hebrews 6:18).

When darkness seems to veil his face,

I stand on his unchanging grace.

In every high and stormy gale,

My anchor holds within the veil.

On Christ the solid rock I stand,

All other ground is sinking sand.

All other ground is sinking sand.

Edward Mote

Prayer: Lord we pray that we may spread your light and love to give a glimmer of hope to those You long to touch. May we not pass them by. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

ShepherdLove Series - Books/CDs by Pam Smith

Be still

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100
Psalm 46:10, NIV
Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.

My husband had an aunt whom I loved to visit when she was alive. She was a warm, godly woman who shared her wisdom with me. It was her understanding of raising her two sons that I especially valued as I had son who was growing up fast. Once she told me that over the years she had learnt the art of ‘hanging around’ her sons. I was fascinated by this comment as I knew her to be very wise but I also knew that sons, especially adolescent ones, certainly didn’t want their mothers to hang around them. Over the years, I did learn something of her art. I learned to leave my son well alone when he was with friends or busy but that when he was alone with not much to do and sitting on the step with a cool drink staring into space, I would per chance be doing much the same thing. It was an art that produced rich rewards; I heard things that my son would not normally have thought to tell me.

At some point in my life, the words, ‘It’s important to hang around God’ came to me. This is also an art but of a different kind. God is always available to us. He doesn’t have ‘on’ and ‘off’ days or times when He wants to be alone or with His friends. The art rather is to learn how to be still and quiet ourselves so that we can hear Him. This doesn’t come naturally as the world clamours for our attention. We feel we should be doing something or fulfilling our Christian duty in some way or another. We seldom stop. My experience is that God doesn’t speak to me in the two spare minutes that I have between the breakfast table and the car. However, when I take time to sit quietly, do nothing in particular except perhaps sit on the step with a cup of coffee, that’s when I hear His voice. He may give me an idea, a thought or even a rebuke about something He wants me to put right. Whatever it is, as with my son, I’m always grateful to have heard Him. The rich experience I have when I am quiet before God encourages me to do it more and more.

Prayer: Father, I want to hear Your voice and what it is You want to say to me. When I do hear You, I’m always better equipped to deal with the things of life that come my way. Please help me to be still. Amen.

Dynamic Praying - Teaching CD

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Our Blessed Hope

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100
Titus 2:11-13 , NIV
For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope – the glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ

I am writing this devotional immediately after returning from a mission trip to South Africa. As we were driving towards Johannesburg airport, on our way home, the clouds were heavy and black. Suddenly there was a hole in the clouds and the brilliance of the sun’s rays shone through. It was a dramatic moment and inevitably we began to think of how the world’s darkness will one day be penetrated with the light of eternity when Jesus comes again.

God has a strategy for eternity and He is watching and waiting, as the years roll by, for that moment when He has gathered into His Kingdom all whom He has planned to be with Him in the heavenly realms. One day the one who is the Blessed Hope of believers from all the centuries will burst through the skies of time with the brilliance of eternity. It won’t then be like a local black cloud being penetrated by the rays of the sun, but all the world’s darkness will be shown up for what it is as the sun of righteousness returns from glory to gather His bride to Himself.

In the meantime Paul urges us to always be ready for when that moment comes, for there will be a generation that’s still alive on the earth when Jesus returns – and it could be ours. The best way to get ready for His coming to us or, if we die first, for our going to Him, is to heed Paul’s advice in our reading and continually say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and live godly lives – living as citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven, while here on earth.

Having found salvation in our Saviour, the enemy never ceases to try and throw us off course and limit our potential through disobedience to God. None of us know either the day or the hour when Jesus will come again or the day or the hour when our earthly lives will come to a close. But if we always live as if today is our last day on earth, we will always be able to give Satan a ‘No’ when he tempts us and we will remain focussed on living for our Lord and serving Him every day of the rest of our lives.

Prayer: Thank You, Lord, that we can look forward with great anticipation to Your coming again. Help me to always live as if your coming is imminent and to have the courage to always say No to the enemy, when he tempts me to sin. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

What Do We Want?

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100
2 Chronicles 1:7, NIV
That night God appeared to Solomon and said to him, ‘Ask for whatever you want me to give you’.

Solomon had established himself firmly over his kingdom, for the LORD his God was with him and made him exceedingly great (2 Chronicles 1:1). Then God said this amazing thing, ‘Ask for whatever you want me to give you.’ God didn't promise Solomon that He would give it to him, He just said to ask. Perhaps the promise was implicit in the statement, but Solomon's answer shows where his heart was. Solomon answered God, ‘You have shown great kindness to David my father and have made me king in his place. Now, LORD God, let your promise to my father David be confirmed, for you have made me king over a people who are as numerous as the dust of the earth. Give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may lead this people, for who is able to govern this great people of yours?’ (2 Chronicles 1:8-10).

We can see several points in his reply to the Lord. He was humble and kept in mind that God was truly King over Israel, he reminded God of His promises, and he asked for wisdom so that he could do his job well. Because of his heart, and the fact that he didn’t ask for wealth, riches or honour, nor for the death of his enemies or a long life but for wisdom and knowledge to govern God's people, God gave him wisdom and knowledge and also wealth, riches and honour, like no king before or after.

Let's let this be a reminder to us to check our hearts and ask God for what is right. I’m reminded of the Serenity Prayer, ‘God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; the courage to change the things I can; and the wisdom to know the difference.’ As the Proverbs say, let’s seek wisdom.

Prayer: Lord, please give me wisdom to do the job You’ve given me to do. I trust You to provide for all my needs. Help me to have Your heart. Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Living the Life - Book by Peter Horrobin

An act of Worship

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100
John 12:3, ESV
Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

What an amazing thing for Mary to do! She lavished the most expensive ointment upon the feet of Jesus and even wiped his feet with her hair. In John’s Gospel we learnt that Mary’s brother Lazarus had been raised from the dead after being in the grave for 3 days. Such an act pointed to the real identity of Jesus. He was truly the Messiah and Mary, more than most, was fully aware of this.

It was the job of the High Priest to recognise the Messiah when He came and to anoint Him. Mary boldly did this for Jesus. I wonder if she bought the ointment especially for Jesus. No doubt she had used just such an ointment for Lazarus when he died. It’s obvious that she was a rich person who could afford such a luxury.

Luke’s gospel tells us that one day Mary wanted to sit at the feet of Jesus and listen to Him teach while her sister was preparing food in the kitchen (Luke 10:39). It was an unusual thing for a woman to do. Only disciples sat at the Master’s feet like that. Jesus had affirmed that she did the right thing then and He affirmed again that she was doing the right thing here.

Her heart was overflowing with love and worship for Jesus and nothing was too good for her to give Him. Freely she had received and freely she gave. I think she had listened so carefully to every word that Jesus had said and she knew He was going to be put to death in Jerusalem. I believe she fully understood what was going on.

After Judas Iscariot had criticised her for wasting money Jesus defended her saying, ‘Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial. For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me’ (John 12:7-8).

Jesus accepted her generous act of love and worship and was grateful for the anointing ahead of the time when He would be buried. In fact she was the only one who managed to anoint Jesus for burial as the other women were too late on the glorious morning of the Resurrection.

Prayer: Dear Lord Jesus, Just as Mary loved You so much she wanted to spend time being close to You may we also be able to do that too, to sit at Your feet and enjoy resting in You. Just as she lavished expensive ointment on You as an act of love and worship, not even caring whether others disapproved, may we also be able to fully worship You and show our love to You. Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Sitting at the Feet of Jesus - Teaching CD

Focus on what you can’t see!

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100
2 Corinthians 4:18, NIV
So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Many of you are facing problems today – concerns over employment, finance and provision; difficulties with family and relationships; issues with inner hurts, pain or depression; struggles with sickness, and physical problems. Often these things loom so large in the fore-front of our minds that it’s difficult to think of anything else.

But in today’s verse the Apostle Paul urges us not to focus on what’s seen, those difficulties and issues that we’re facing today, but to fix our eyes on what’s unseen. What’s unseen is the utter faithfulness of God as revealed in His word – that He chose each one of us before He created the world (Ephesians 1:4); that we have been adopted into His family (Ephesians 1:5); that He’s our Father (2 Corinthians 6:18); that His love for us is lavish and unfailing (1 John 3:1); that He will never leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5); that He will always provide for us (Philippians 4:19); that He’s our Healer (Isaiah 53:3-5), and that He’s the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort (2 Corinthians 1:3).

All of these statements (and many more) are true for every believer in Jesus Christ, but the outworking of them isn’t always automatic in our lives. We’re told that “no matter how many promises God has made, they are ‘Yes’ in Christ” (2 Corinthians 1:20). So we need to keep coming back to the finished work of Jesus on the Cross to appropriate God’s promises in each area of our lives, and we do that by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7).

Whatever difficult circumstances you’re facing today, they’re temporary compared to the eternal nature of God and His promises to you in Christ. Will you choose today to fix your eyes ‘not on what is seen, but on what is unseen’? The more we can focus on those unseen things, the more they’ll become true in our experience.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, Forgive me for spending so much time focusing on my problems and my pain. I choose today to fix my eyes on the unseen truths contained in Your promises. Thank You that these are eternal. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Living the Life - Book by Peter Horrobin

My Yoke is Easy

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100
Matthew 11:30, NIV
For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

God’s first specific command not to do something was not exactly onerous. In Genesis 2:16 – 17 we read ‘And the LORD God commanded the man, ‘You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.’’

It was not even as tough as fasting. They could eat as much as we wanted from every tree, apart from one.

God is the same today - (and yesterday, and tomorrow). He does not burden us with a heavy load. ‘For my yoke is easy and my burden is light’ Matthew 11.30). Rather, we are good at burdening ourselves. We read someone’s testimony and imagine we have to measure up to him or her. And we try and put the weight God designed for someone else on our own shoulders. We forget everyone’s calling is individual. Peter can’t be Paul, nor Paul, Peter. We forget it was a step-by-step process for both Paul and Peter to reach the place in the kingdom they did.

The yoke that is easy for us, custom-made by an expert carpenter for our shoulders, would cripple someone else, and vice versa. And unless you are one of those rare human beings born with four shoulders, you can only wear one yoke at a time. If you are trying to take up two, your own and someone else’s, I suggest you drop the other one! And if your shoulders are chaffed raw from the wrong yoke, swap it for the easy yoke of Jesus.

Prayer: Lord, forgive me for burdening myself, or letting someone else give me a heavy yoke. I thank You, Lord, that Your yoke is easy and Your burden is light. I gladly take it up. Please help me to drop the others. Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Living as Children of the Father - Teaching CD

Evangelists

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100
Acts 19:20, NIV
In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power.

I recently heard a radio report on modern office jargon, which included some companies now using the term ‘evangelist’ for those who were responsible for marketing and selling their products. This took me back to a meeting in the company I used to work for who had introduced this change several years ago.

I remembered sitting in a meeting listening to the Director telling us that an evangelist knows his product, is passionate about his product and wants everyone to know about his product. He went on to say that this should be the motivation for all employees and not solely limited to those whose primary function is to sell the products; we should all be able to and want to sell the products.

It was quite a motivational talk in the secular scheme of things and we all got the message – sell, sell, sell… each and every one of us, at every opportunity… sell!

I remember at the time feeling slightly uncomfortable as I considered how far short I fell as being a true evangelist of Jesus Christ. I had to ask myself some hard questions. Do I really know my product (Jesus Christ)? Am I passionate about my faith? Am I willing and able to ‘sell’ my faith at every opportunity that presents itself to me? Or do I see it as someone else’s responsibility as evangelism is not my primary gift?

The truth is God is depending on each and every one of us to share His Good News. Whilst there are some that He has gifted in this area, our love and knowledge of Jesus Christ should motivate us to want to tell others, even if they reject us because of it.

I often admired those who sold and marketed our products, they seemed to delight in the few results from the vast amount of marketing they did. And so it should be with us. We should be able and willing to tell others the Good News, regardless of the response we get. For, if we don’t, who else will tell those who are lost that there is hope in Jesus Christ?

Prayer: Father, I’m sorry I haven’t been a good evangelist for You. Please give me the passion, the knowledge, the strength and the courage to share Your Good News to those who are lost and living life without You. Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Living the Life - Book by Peter Horrobin

Spending Time with Jesus

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100
Mark 10:15, NKJV
Assuredly I say to you who ever does not receive the Kingdom of God like a little child will by no means enter it.

One morning a few years back, I began my day with a cup of coffee and breakfast in our flat’s small kitchen. While I sipped my coffee and pondered my hectic schedule, my middle daughter entered the kitchen and, opening our pantry door, went in and shut it behind her. Soon, I began to hear her singing songs quietly from within. So I rose and went over and opened the door and asked her what she was doing. She answered, with a grin from ear to ear, “I’m singing songs to Jesus!” Pleased but slightly taken aback, I affirmed to her that this was ok and closed the door, going back to my thoughts of a busy day. Shortly after that, I noticed that I was hearing no sounds from the pantry. Again I went over and opened the door. There, sitting on a large cooking pot, was my daughter eating pretzels. Asked again what she was doing, she replied, again grinning ear to ear, “I’m eating pretzels with Jesus!” So I did the only thing I could do…I left her with Jesus.

That day I learned a valuable lesson; I was too busy and I needed a relationship with Jesus like that, where I could fellowship with the Lord in songs and times of refreshment like a little child. How I long to sit at the feet of Jesus and listen to Him, but as an adult my busy life takes me away from those times of refreshment. My friends, we need to be like a child and in total awe and total innocence spend time with Jesus away from the busyness of ministry, the job, housework, or general things that are constantly eating away our days. The busyness of life robs us of hearing the voice of the Lord. Jesus said that His sheep know their Shepherd’s voice (John 10:4 and 14). When was the last time you went into a closet (or pantry) and spent time with Jesus with the innocent acceptance of a child?

Prayer: Lord, how often my life carries me away and I find myself collapsing into bed, weary and exhausted from the busyness of my life. Help me, Lord, to make the time to spend some quality hours with you! I want to know You, Lord! I want to know Your voice! Would You take me by the hand today, right now and lead me into my quiet place? Thank You, Lord. Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Living the Life - Book by Peter Horrobin

The Lord’s Victory

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100
Proverbs 21:30-31, NIV
There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the Lord. The horse is made ready for battle, but victory rests with the Lord.

When the Lord goes out to battle, there is no scheme or strategy of mankind that could ever succeed against Him. Ever since the fall of man Satan has schemed and battled to gain the upper hand in the heavenly realms, through leading mankind into deeper and deeper sin. But the ultimate conclusion of history is already secured, because Jesus personally overcame Satan and all his works at the cross.

Mankind may do whatever he wants to promote his own abilities and make man himself the object of his own idolatry, but all that man does when he declares himself wise in his own eyes is demonstrate how foolish and deluded and insignificant he really is! As the Psalmist said in Psalm 19 ‘the heavens declare the glory of God’. The whole universe is in the palms of His hands.

People may think they can ignore God’s commandments, as has been happening on an ever increasing scale through the passing of increasingly ungodly laws by the governments of the world. People may think they can make vast amounts of money through very ungodly means without consequence, but ‘a fortune made with a lying tongue is a fleeting vapour and a deadly snare’ (Proverbs 21:6). But people and governments forget that one day there will be a reckoning and those who have despised the law of the Lord will hang their heads in shame when they realise what they have done and what judgment they have brought upon themselves.

So, as you think about the Scripture for today, I pray you will want to give thanks for the ultimate victory that Jesus won at Calvary and resolve never to stand against God in any way – victory always rests with Him!

Prayer: Help me, Lord, never to take a stand against You in anything. I recognise the futility of thinking that man can ever overcome You in any way. Please forgive me for the times when I have done things in rebellion against You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Living the Life - DVD Teaching Series

The Divine Exchange

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100
2 Corinthians 5:21, LB
For God took the sinless Christ and poured into him our sins. Then, in exchange He poured God’s goodness into us.

This is the beginning of his amazing grace towards us and the glorious life He longs to give us in His divine exchange. \'What a difference in man’s sin and God’s forgiveness. For this one man, Adam, brought death to many through his sin. But this one man, Jesus Christ, brought forgiveness to many through God’s mercy. Adam’s one sin brought the penalty of death to many, while Christ takes away many sins and gives glorious life instead’ (Romans 5:15 – 16, LB).

When we become followers of Jesus we can experience some of these divine exchanges. Some of these things take place as we grow in our faith and obedience to His Word.

He takes our burdens and gives us His rest. He takes our despair and gives us certain hope. He takes our weakness and gives us His strength. He gives us beauty instead of ashes and the oil of joy instead of mourning. He exchanges a spirit of heaviness for a garment of praise. He changes our darkness into His brilliant light.

He became poor that we might become rich. He puts our feet on solid Rock instead of sinking sand. He exchanges His love for our indifference. He changes our worries for His peace. He takes our brokenness and makes us whole. He changes our sadness into a new song of joy. He exchanges our rags for a robe of righteousness. He changes our insecurity into godly confidence. He changes failed lives into new beginnings. He can make the impossible a possibility.

‘For no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him. But God has revealed it to us by his Spirit’ (1 Corinthians 2:9 – 10). As you search the Scriptures may you discover many more instances of divine exchanges as in this song by D.J. Butler.

I will change your name, you will no longer be called,

Wounded, Lonely, Outcast or Afraid.

I will change your name, your new name shall be –

Confidence, Joyfulness, Overcoming One,

Faithfulness, Friend of God, One who seeks my face.

Prayer: Thank You Lord, for all Your mercies and the exchanges You are bringing about in the lives of those who follow You. Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

ShepherdLove Series - Books/CDs by Pam Smith

I am sending you

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100
Exodus 3:10-12, NIV
So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt. But Moses said to God, ‘Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?’ And God said, ‘I will be with you’.

Moses was an exile in the land of Midian on the eastern side of the Red Sea after fleeing from Egypt where he had been brought up as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He had to run for his life when he was seen killing an Egyptian who was beating an Israelite, one of Moses’ own people. Pharaoh was determined to kill Moses.

Sometimes we might feel like Moses may have done. There’s some sin we’ve committed which makes us feel unfit for God to ever consider using us. This is how the devil will try to condemn us and make us feel totally unworthy and that God can’t use us.

When we think that way we need to reflect on the grace of God. People say ‘Grace is when God gives us what we don’t deserve’. Paul describes it like this: ‘For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus’ (Romans 3:23-24).

Here Paul introduces the marvellous truths of the ‘glory’ of God’s holiness, the ‘justification’ of us sinners (which means that God sees us ‘just as if I’d never sinned’), and the ‘redemption’ price which was paid to release us from the bondage of slavery to Satan.

When we came as a sinner to Jesus confessing and repenting of our sins the grace of God came into action. We were forgiven, cleansed and ‘justified’ before God. The price paid for our redemption came into effect. Hallelujah! It was done for us by God’s grace in Jesus. All we had to do was receive the wonderful gift - of forgiveness and salvation.

That’s our starting point and now we can move forward. God says to us, ‘I am sending you’ and ‘I will be with you.’ When God calls, He equips. He enables us to do that which we feel we can’t possibly do. As Moses did, we may think there are others who can do things far better. But God’s not calling them. He’s calling you and me! But with the call He promises to be with us, and to enable us. So let’s go with God, and watch Him do extraordinary things through ordinary people like us.

Prayer: O Lord God, I marvel at Your grace, justification and redemption. Thank You for loving me in such a wonderful way, and for all that You’ve brought me into through Your Son, Jesus. Here and now I give myself to You. Please make me aware of Your voice when You’re calling me. Give me the grace to respond in obedience to You. Please give me the faith that You will do amazing things in the power of the Name of Jesus. Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Living in Vision - Teaching CD

Treasure

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100
Matthew 6:21, NIV
For where your treasure is there your heart will be also.

For some time I have been wanting to replace my aging guitar with something newer. One weekend recently my son and I went to London to look at the specialist shops and decide what I wanted. Having made my choice, I then decided to buy one. Yesterday it arrived from Canada, securely packed in a thick protective bubble wrap jacket. I opened it with some excitement and played a few chords – the sound was just what I had hoped for. However, when it was plugged in (it is an electro-acoustic for those that are interested!) there was a sound that should not have been there. We had a problem with the electronics. What a disappointment! That which I had been wanting so much was not up to my expectations.

So many people have been disappointed recently through the economic situation as the material things they have hoped for have been denied them: financial investments, pensions, holidays, and house improvements. Even Christian believers suffer from the financial setbacks of the world!

The Lord reminded me that my hope shouldn’t be on such things. If they represent my ‘treasure’, my focus is wrong. If my heart is set on the materialistic things of this world, I will inevitably be disappointed. I thought I’d learned that lesson when I entered full time ministry, but the enemy keeps sneaking up on me and distracting my focus back on to this world. Whether my guitar works or not should not affect me deeply. But the way I responded when it didn’t showed me something about myself. I have to say I’m disappointed.

The Lord is reminding me to seek His Kingdom first, and get my focus back on Him, not to allow the hopes of this world to become larger than they should be. I know that God is delighted when I play my guitar, because He loves music, but I get the feeling He would be more delighted if my focus was totally on Him.

I wonder whether, like me, you’re also too focused on the treasures of this world. Is that where your heart really is? If so, let’s do some Kingdom seeking.

Prayer: Lord Jesus I’m sorry if I’ve allowed myself to become distracted by seeking the treasures of this world, however small they may be. Please help me to refocus on You and delight in the things You give me in this life. In Your Name I pray, Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Follow the Radical Jesus - Teaching CD

King Asa - Part 2

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100
2 Chron. 14: 11, NKJ
“Lord, it is nothing for You to help, whether with many or with those who have no power; help us O Lord our God, for we rest on You, and in Your name we go against this multitude. O Lord, You are our God; do not let man prevail against You!”

King Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God. He cleaned up the land by removing the altars of the foreign gods and the high places used for worship and he knew to call on the Lord in times of battle. When the Ethiopian, Zerah, came against him with huge forces, he cried out to God for help and was rescued from a seemingly impossible situation.

There are times when everything around us looks impossible. Whichever way we turn it seems as though there is an impenetrable wall of difficulties and the options are incredibly limited. We all know the story of the man who took over writing the Dan Dare comic story and had got Dan into an impossible situation with enemies pressing in on every side. He took the story to the original writer who was ill in bed and he simply wrote, “With one bound, Dan was free!” That’s rather what it was like for Asa as God intervened and defeated the Ethiopians. Asa and his men were still fighting but God had come in on their side and the overwhelming odds suddenly weren’t overwhelming any more.

When we are doing God’s will, He will always see us through, no matter how difficult the problems seem to be. It does not mean that He will rescue us out of the difficult situations, but that He will see us through them if we put our trust in Him.

Prayer: Dearest Father, thank You for Your promise always to be with me. I know that when I am in the centre of Your will, no matter how hard life seems, You will be there to guide and direct me. Thank You so much that You are totally trustworthy. Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Living in the Promises - Teaching CD

King Asa - Part 1

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100
2 Chronicles 15: 12, NKJ
Then they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul.

King Asa was a good king. He had cleared all the idols and high places of worship to false gods, but was then set upon by a vast Ethiopian army. God came to their rescue in a miraculous way and now King Asa was returning to Jerusalem and he wanted his country to be at peace once more.

I sense there was a feeling of desperation in him as he gathered the people together. Yet God had shown Asa that He was with them in the battle. Had Asa forgotten that? King Asa led his people into a binding agreement that they should seek God. We read ‘And all Judah rejoiced at the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart and sought Him with all their soul, and He was found by them, and the LORD gave them rest all around’ (2 Chronicles 15:15). What a wonderful sense of relief comes at the end of that verse!

We can all identify with the sense of relief that comes when we find something that we have been searching hard for and most of us know what it’s like when we can’t feel the presence of God in our lives. Part of the trouble is that we rely too much on our feelings – so many people will say “I can’t feel God’s presence” – but I sometimes wonder what exactly it is they expect to feel. When I’m away from my husband I can’t feel his love but I know he still loves me.

God promises that He will never leave us nor forsake us and we need to allow that truth to penetrate deep into our spirits. I believe that for King Asa and his people the truth suddenly became a reality and they experienced God’s ‘peace which passes all understanding’ – you can almost hear the great sigh of relief!

If you are feeling distant from God today, just know that God is there with you and allow His peace to fill your spirit.

Prayer: Father God, there are times when I find it difficult to know that You are there. Perhaps in my head I know it, but inside I can’t feel Your presence. Today, I reach out my hand to You in love and trust and say “thank You” for Your faithfulness to me. Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Living the Life DVD Series - Great for studying in House Groups!

Something Rare and Beautiful

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100
Philippians 4:8, NIV
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things.

In Scotland when you go for a walk in the exquisite countryside you may be privileged to catch a glimpse of the red squirrel. It is there for one moment and then it skips away to surprise another unsuspecting person taking a leisurely stroll.

How often do we miss the rare and the beautiful surprises that our heavenly Father wants us to see and enjoy? A magnificent sunset, a glistening waterfall, a tiny baby with dimples and a toothless smile, the gentle eyes of the elderly and the reassuring touch of a loved one.

Jesus reached many hearts with His gentle touch, His kind eyes and His caring ways. How often do we miss these precious moments in our busy schedules and time driven lives?

May you stop and smell the new rose on the bush, and encourage a toddler that his crumpled picture is the most gorgeous one you have ever seen! Seize the moment and create some 'suddenlies' in the lives of others.

Our scripture verse encourages us to ponder on the precious things of God: Finally, brothers (and sisters), whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things (Philippians 4:8).

Prayer: Lord Jesus, help us to appreciate all You have created so wonderfully and show us how to teach others to see the rainbow in every storm.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Living the Life DVD Series - Great for studying in House Groups!

Did You Get the Message?

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100
Nehemiah 8:8, NIV
They read from the book of the law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people could understand what was being read.

People often use the phrase which forms the title to this devotional – it doesn’t mean, did you receive a letter, a phone call, an email or a text? It means, "did you understand what I was saying to you?" The problem with much teaching is that the people hear the words but they don’t get the message! They don’t understand what it means or how to apply the teaching to their own lives.

Many years after the people of Israel had been defeated, and taken as prisoners into exile, Nehemiah was called by God to go back to the city of Jerusalem and rebuild the walls. He knew that they had lost their protection and covering as a nation because of their sin. He really got God’s message about the situation. ‘I and my ancestors – we have sinned,’ he said (Nehemiah 1:6 GNB).

Then after the wall had been rebuilt and the people were reoccupying Jerusalem he knew it was important that the people should rediscover for themselves what the law of God actually said. They wouldn’t want to go into exile again! So Ezra the prophet was told to get out the book of the law of God and tell the people what it contained. So he built a pulpit (Nehemiah 8:4) so everyone could hear what he said and ‘get the message’. Then the Levites, also, explained it to the people, so there would be no doubt about what it meant.

As soon as the people understood it, they immediately began to repent of their sins and there were many tears. But it wasn’t just a day for tears, it was also a day of joy. For God rejoices when His people ‘get the message’ and start putting His Word into practice and, as Nehemiah said, ‘this day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.’ (Nehemiah 8:10).

Throughout the history of Ellel Ministries, and on every Healing Retreat and training course, we have sought to explain what the Word means to people at their point of need. Many times there have been tears as they have realised the mistakes they have made or the bitterness they have carried for so many years. But when people truly got the message of truth and applied it in their lives, there was always joy to follow, as they discovered that the joy of the Lord became their strength for life’s future journey. It’s worth ‘getting the message’ and really learning to understand what God is saying to us today through His Word.

Prayer: Thank You, Lord, for Your Word. Help me to understand it so that I can ‘get the message’ that You are proclaiming to the world and live it out in my own life. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Secret and Revealed

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100
Deuteronomy 29:29, NKJV
The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.

This verse speaks of two categories of knowledge, the secret things and the revealed things. The secret things belong to God. The revealed things belong to us, and our children. There are secrets and mysteries that we cannot know now. Proverbs 25:2 says ‘It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings’. Yet King David said ‘Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain’ (Psalm 139:6). Jesus displayed the same humility as David in this respect, which it would be good for us to emulate. Jesus said only the Father knew the time when He would return. This is an example of a hidden thing. Jesus didn’t know the time, and He was content not to know. He could have asked the Father, but in humility He left that knowledge to Him.

Let’s leave the secret things where they belong. The revealed things are all ours – the whole Bible with all its multifaceted wisdom – more than enough for us. But what’s the reason for the revelations, given to us and our children? That we may do them, and that we may obey the word of the Lord. Sometimes we just let God’s word tickle our ears but it doesn’t change our hearts. Can we expect more revelation if we don’t act on that already given us, and encourage our children to do likewise? In fact, children, and those with child-like hearts, are often better at believing and doing, and God reveals things to them more readily than adults who think they know it all! Jesus once said ‘I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children’ Matthew 11:25.

Prayer: Dear Lord, we acknowledge that there are secret things too wonderful for us. Thank You for the wealth of revealed things which You’ve freely given to us and our children. Father, help us to obey them. Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Life according to the Book - Teaching CD

Sacrifice of Praise

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100
Hebrews 13. 15. NKJ
Therefore by Him let us continually offer our sacrifice of praise to God, that is the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his Name.

It is often a sacrifice on our part when we’re burdened or in a very hard place to open our mouths and give praise and glory to God. But Jesus has promised to help us. It’s also a sacrifice of praise when, with Jesus, we live our lives according to God’s ways rather the ways of this world and we go through persecution because of it.

This is how we begin to rise up in praise. Praise is a powerful, secret weapon that we can keep in our hearts ready to use. This will drive away the powers of darkness and show the world that His praise is glorious. ‘Sing forth the honour of his name: make his praise glorious’ (Psalm 66:2). We can speak to our souls and say ‘Bless the Lord O my soul and forget not all his benefits’ (Psalm 103:2). ‘God inhabits the praises of his people’ (Psalm 22.3), so I believe we can open the way for the Lord to come and lift us up into a higher place. And He will.

But it’s not until we’ve first been down at His feet that we can truly rise up in praise. That often involves our whole being, body, soul and spirit. King David danced before the Lord. Offering up praise in song and with instruments and waving a banner is a meaningful way of honouring the Lord. There are many ways to praise God - together with others and personally on our own. But the one thing to remember is our praise and worship is to be holy, set apart for the Lord.

As we praise the Lord and rejoice in Him and sing to Him it’s good to remember that the Lord rejoices over us with singing (Zephaniah 3:17).

Here are the words of a song by Lenny LeBlanc & Greg Gulley which we can make our prayer.

Down at your feet, Oh Lord, is the most high place.

In your presence Lord, I seek your face,

There is no higher calling, there is no greater honour,

Than to bow before your throne.

I’m amazed at your glory, embraced by your mercy,

Oh Lord, I live to worship you.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

ShepherdLove Series - Books/CDs by Pam Smith

The promise of God’s presence

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100
Genesis 28:15, NKJV
Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.

These were God’s words spoken to Jacob in a dream as he was running away from home after deceiving his father into giving him the blessing of the first-born, the blessing which was really for his older brother, Esau.

I wonder if we are sometimes aware of God making His promise known to us, and yet there comes a time when we feel, like Jacob, we have messed things up, and it’s all hopeless. We then wonder when and how we might ever get things back into proper order and on to a right footing.

Jacob had managed to get Esau to sell the birthright of the elder son to him (Esau had set no value on this birthright). Then, following that first act of manipulation, Jacob cheated Esau out of the first-born’s blessing from their father. As a result Esau was determined to kill Jacob when the right opportunity arose.

We may not always understand the ways of God, or why He’d chosen Jacob above Esau, but we do know that God’s ways are perfect, and that He has plans for us which are designed for our good (Ephesians 2:10).

God had told Isaac regarding these two sons that from them would be formed two peoples, and that ‘The older will serve the younger’ (Genesis 25:23).

God chooses whomsoever He will in order to fulfil His plan and purpose, and in a similar way Jesus has chosen us along with many others to follow Him (John 15:16).

However inadequate and unsuited we might feel regarding our life and service for the Lord, I believe we can take the words God spoke to Jacob and apply them to ourselves. ‘Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you’ We also can know that God is with us, and He’s working out what He’s planned. The end result God has in view is that we might bear fruit, whereby He will be glorified.

Prayer: Father God, I know that I don’t always understand Your plans and Your ways, but I do understand the promise of Jesus to be with me to the end of the age. Please help me to be aware of that, and enable me to be fruitful in all that You lead me into, I pray, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Living the Life - DVD Series

The Problem of Deception

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100
Matthew 24:24, NIV
For false messiahs and false prophets will appear; they will perform great miracles and wonders in order to deceive even God's chosen people, if possible.

At Ellel Ministries we passionately believe in the healing and deliverance ministry of Jesus. We have the privilege of seeing many precious Christian brothers and sisters find life-changing wholeness and freedom as they respond to the prompting of the Holy Spirit, in bringing their lives increasingly under the lordship of Jesus.

However, today’s verse contains a dramatic warning that as we approach the last days there will be false miracles, with Christians believing that they have received restoration from Jesus, but actually finding themselves deceived, and even put into bondage to the evil one.

Whilst seeking the true work of Jesus in our lives, how do we guard against healing practices which may have a Christian label but are actually defiled by the enemy’s intrusion? Thankfully, the Bible not only warns us of the problem of deception, but also gives many guidelines in how to be sure that Jesus is in rightful control of the pathway of restoration for our lives.

Let me suggest a few of these guidelines that we can all apply as we interact with other people in churches and ministries, and even when attending courses at an Ellel Centre!

1. If we have taken time to know the true voice of Jesus, He says that false healers will seem like strangers to us (John 10:5).

2. Is the character of Jesus, the fruit of Holy Spirit, seen to be growing in those ministering, however impressive we consider the power displayed (Matthew 7:20)?

3. Without bringing condemnation, is sinful behaviour clearly addressed in the teaching and ministry (1 John 1:8-9)?

4. Is the divine order and balance between Father God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit clearly acknowledged in the teaching and ministry (1 John 2:22)?

5. If we earnestly desire the Lord to gift us with the ability to discern spirits, the Holy Spirit will empower us to know what is false (1 Corinthians 12:11).

Prayer: Father God, keep me alert, but not fearful, with respect to the deception that Jesus has warned us of in these last days. I ask for an increasing ability to discern between what is of Your Spirit, what is of the flesh, and what is of the enemy. Thank you that You desire a safe path of restoration for my life. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Deception and Mixture in the Church - Teaching CD

Discernment and Deception - Teaching CD

They Are My Glory

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100
John 17:10, LB
And all of them, since they are mine, belong to you; and you have given them back to me with everything else of yours, and so they are my glory.

Jesus says ‘and so they are my glory’. This is what we are - His own special people, His inheritance, His joy. The dictionary says glory is honour, praise, and magnificence. We may desire to bring Him all these things, but sometimes our lives and actions can bring Him the opposite. Sometimes we may bring Him shame.

But here’s the wonderful truth. In His grace and mercy He can take away that shame and sin as He forgives us. That’s why we should never give up or think that we’re not good enough. When we repent of our sins we become ‘His glory’ and we bring Him joy. I believe this is the joy that was set before Jesus talked about in Hebrews 12:2 (Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God).

We are Gods’ garden and we are His temple. He lives in us, ‘Your body does not belong to you. For God has bought you with a great price – so use every part of your body to give glory back to God, because he owns it’ (1 Corinthians 6:20).

Those of you who are teachers, coaches, mentors, pastors or helpers will all know the joy when those whose lives you influence do well. This brings a tribute to you. In the same way as parents and grandparents you have pride in them when they achieve something.

And so we, who belong to the Lord, are His glory. Even when we are weak His power and strength can shine through us and He is the one gets the glory. His prayer was, and is, that His joy may be fulfilled in us.

Prayer: May we see your glory, Lord, and may we be humbled by your mercy, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

ShepherdLove Series - Books/CDs by Pam Smith

Sheep

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100
John 10: 27, Amp.
The sheep that are My own hear and are listening to My voice; and I know them, and they follow Me.

Just recently we heard on the local news that a farmer had had some of his valuable sheep stolen. He had taken years to build up his flock and some thieves came in the night and stole over four hundred of them. The police reckoned that it was a very professional job and that they probably came with sheep dogs and a cattle trailer.

Sheep are not very intelligent creatures and they obviously thought they had better do what the dogs were telling them – after all their farmer, doubtless, had dogs and they were used to being moved around by them. It all must have seemed quite usual to them, apart from the fact that it was dark, and their farmer usually worked in daylight.

How important it is for us to learn to listen to our Shepherd’s voice. Jesus warns us that even the elect may be deceived by what seems right but isn’t (Matthew 24: 24), and as Derek Prince says, ‘If we believe we can’t be deceived, we’re deceived already’. We need to listen carefully and compare what we hear with the Word of God, (which cannot lie). If it doesn’t match, then we’re in danger of being deceived and it would be best to it leave well alone.

Prayer: Dearest Father, the last thing I want is to be deceived. Please help me to be alert to Your voice and not to be distracted by what seems good. Please help me to stay close to You, in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Angela Weir

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Deception and Mixture in the Church - Teaching CD

Getting Back on God’s Wheel

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100
Jeremiah 18:1-4, NIV
‘This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: “Go down to the potter’s house and there I will give you my message.” So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him’.

I love the parables in the Word of God – pictures that speak a pure message of truth right into the heart of man. Many times God has spoken to me personally through the ordinary things of life – never more powerfully than when I, as a young man, started to restore an old car. After doing many hours of work I discovered that the steel frame (the chassis) on which the car was built was bent. I was heart-broken, but at that very moment I suddenly became aware of the voice of God speaking into my spirit!

He was saying, “You could restore this broken car, but I can restore broken lives.” And then He asked me a question I’ve never forgotten, “Which is more important - restoring broken cars or restoring broken lives?” At that moment of time I wanted to say ‘the car’! But I knew that was the wrong answer. It was at that moment that God birthed in me the vision for what eventually became Ellel Ministries. I found myself looking at that broken car with the eyes of the spirit instead of the eyes of the flesh and in a flash the whole direction of my life was changed.

Jeremiah had a similar experience when he went down to the house of the potter. He saw the potter making a vessel on his wheel. Then, as so often happens, the shape of the vessel was spoiled in the potter’s hand. But did the potter throw the clay away? No, he simply reworked it on the wheel and started again with the same clay to reshape it into a good vessel. We may see the broken car or the spoiled vessel and think they are useless and good for nothing. God looks and sees the potential that they still have and He rejoices when they are restored or reshaped and put back into service in the Kingdom of God.

You may be feeling rather like a spoiled pot or a car with a broken chassis, but may I encourage you to lift up your head and rejoice, for the restorer of souls is at hand – and He wants your life to rejoice once again with a new sense of purpose. Face the issues in your life, with Him, which have caused the damage and then give Him permission to put you back on His ‘wheel’ and see what the Master Potter can do.

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, that You are the master restorer. Help me, Lord, to see the places where I have made mistakes so that together we can put things right. Then, put me back on Your wheel and reshape me in the way that best fits Your plans for the rest of my days. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Living the Life - DVD Teaching Series by Peter Horrobin

Do not worry

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100
Matthew 6:25-26, NIV
Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

Recently, walking along a river, surrounded by snow covered hills, we came across a robin perched on a tree branch, no more than three feet from us. It was calm, unafraid, unhurried, unworried and a beautiful sight in a beautiful environment. The words “Do not worry, you are of more value than many robins,” wouldn’t leave me.

People worry about many things. They worry about things that will never happen, things about the past that can’t be changed, about criticism from others which is often untrue, about health and about real problems that have to be faced.

So, why do we worry? If the character of the God of the Bible is true, worry is unnecessary. In fact it is interest on a debt you may never incur. Worry stands between you and God. When we worry we’re really saying we can’t trust God to take care of us in the small and the big issues of life. We don’t think He can take care of the practical details of our lives

Worry often has to do with the future. It says, “I won’t trust where I can’t see.” We might call this unbelief. In my experience the cure for unbelief is obedience. Ceasing to worry is about relationship with God, which grows through small steps of obedience, often when we can’t see the way ahead.

Jesus never worried. He didn’t live to please Himself, but to obey His Father. The Father of Jesus is my Father. He loves me to the extent that my name is ‘written on the palms of His hands’ (Isaiah 49:16). I can’t think of anything He’ll ever forget. He’ll protect me, lead me and watch over me as I trust in Him.

The big question for you to answer is ‘Why do I worry?’ Keep your mind today on the ‘much more’ of your heavenly Father. Remember that ‘He is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine’ (Ephesians 3:20). He knows the circumstances of your life. He simply says, ‘Don’t worry. Trust me.’

E. Cheney wrote a simple poem:

Said the robin to the sparrow ‘I should really like to know

Why these anxious human beings rush about and worry so.’

Said the sparrow to the robin, ‘Friend I think that it must be

That they have no heavenly Father, such as cares for you and me.’

Prayer: Heavenly Father, please forgive my unbelief. Thank You for Your unchanging character and for Your amazing love to me revealed through Jesus. Today I choose to turn my thoughts on You and cease from worrying. Please increase my faith and teach me to trust You more. Amen

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Explaining Covenants - Book by Tom Marshall

Learning to Skate!

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100
Hebrews 4: 14, NLT
That is why we have a great High Priest who has gone to heaven, Jesus the Son of God. Let us cling to Him and never stop trusting Him. This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced the same temptations we do, yet he did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive His mercy and we will find grace to help us when we need it.

My two oldest children, Jake and Ben, were recently invited to a family roller-skating event! Parents were invited to skate too! Once at the rink, with the roller skates securely fastened to my ankles, I started to wonder if, perhaps, I’d bitten off more than I could chew! I struggled to my feet with images gripping my mind of all the potential bones I could break and realised very quickly - I was quite seriously out of my depth! I had to decide - was I going to admit defeat and recognise I was not the 12 year old roller-dancing-queen that I used to be, or was I going to give it a go and quite possibly fall flat on my face? I chose to give it a go.

In the grand scheme of life and the universe it really didn't matter whether I skated or not (it’s certainly not part of my destiny!), but in our Christian walk we are faced with opportunities where our choices really do matter. Are we going to face the very real possibility of failure and embarrassment by doing something we have a feeling God is asking us to do, or do we choose the easy option and sit on the side and watch everyone else? Sometimes it’s fear that holds us back from stepping out and trusting God - "what if I get it wrong"? Sometimes it’s pride - "what will people think of me"? Sometimes it’s pure human logic - "it just doesn't make sense". And sometimes we’ve positioned ourselves so comfortably, confident we’ll give it a go `when we’ve got it perfect', that we’ve become the experts at never giving God a chance.

Just as Jesus asked Peter to step out of the boat and to walk on the water and trust Him, I believe Jesus will give us similar opportunities. Jesus can prove Himself faithful if we’re only willing to step out. As with the skating, we can make a choice. Do we give it a go or do we sit back and watch? It wasn't enough for me to just fasten on the skates and stand up holding on to the safety barrier. You only begin to skate when you step on to the rink, let go of the barrier and give it a go. In a similar way, unless we give the Lord a chance to prove Himself faithful, will we ever really learn to trust Him? If we don't trust Him, will we really grow deeper in our relationship with Him?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, I believe You’re trustworthy and faithful. I’m sorry for the times I’ve doubted You, or the times I’ve walked away from opportunities where You wanted to prove Yourself to me. Open my eyes to see places in my life where I can have an opportunity to step out and trust Your faithfulness, so that I can grow deeper in my love for You and understand more of Your heart for me. In Jesus’ name Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Creativity and Healing - Teaching CD

Set apart

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100
John 17:14-17, NIV
I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.

These words are part of Jesus’ prayer for his disciples. He prays that they will be kept from evil and that they will be ‘sanctified’, which is set apart, for ministry of the Lord’s truth.

If we truly want to be Jesus’ disciples, we need to know the Lord’s truth and minister it. It is often said that we should be ‘in’ the world but not ‘of’ the world. God set us in this world and He intends that we live a full life in it. However, we should live our life not by the world’s standards but by godly standards. That is how we are set apart.

This can be difficult because the ways of the world are often so appealing and enticing. We live in a world where there is much obsession with materialism. We are constantly reminded, particularly by the media, to nurture and treat ourselves with material things such as new clothes, meals, cars, holidays and entertainment. Of course there’s nothing inherently wrong with a new pair of shoes, a good meal in a restaurant or a week-end break, for example, and sometimes it’s what we should be doing. However, we need to be aware and watch our boundaries. Are these treats which we experience from time to time or have they become a way of life, an entitlement perhaps? The things of the world are very seductive. We get drawn to them all too easily. We can become unduly focused on ourselves. Our wants become our needs and our pleasures become more important than the real needs of people around us. Very importantly, we can get side tracked by worldly things with the result that we take our eyes off Jesus and His truth. That is, of course, what the enemy wants because then we’re tainted by worldly things. We’re no longer set apart and we become less effective for Christ.

Prayer: Lord, will You open my eyes to the things of the world that are drawing me away from You and Your truth. I don’t want to have my focus on worldly things but rather to be concentrated on You so that I can be Your effective servant in this world. Amen.

Apologies for the mistake on yesterday's devotional. The writer yesterday was Grace Marshall, not Peter Horrobin.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

No Compromise - Teaching CD

Trust is Hard

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100
Philippians 2: 6-7, NIV
(Christ Jesus) who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant.

Have you ever struggled with the issue of giving Jesus total control over your life? I certainly have. It goes against all our natural inclinations and desires to hand over control to another person. Especially someone we can’t see!

Why would you want to lose control? Why would you become totally vulnerable to another person? Supposing they took advantage of you and used what you have given of yourself for their own benefit? Suppose you lived to deeply regret the fact that you entrusted yourself to someone else?

I’m sure these feelings are at least partly God-given and right. Jesus did not entrust Himself to certain people. Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men (John 2: 24). Trust has to be earned. Forgiveness may be given whether it’s earned or not – and usually it isn’t - but trust is something quite different. You have to deserve to be trusted. It can’t be demanded or required. A person must earn trust.

So what about trusting Jesus? Has He earned our trust or not? Today’s verse tells us all about Jesus. Even when He had something wonderful (equality with God) He didn’t mind losing it for the sake of helping us. He never grasped or tried to gain anything for Himself. Even things He was fully entitled to, like equality with God.

Far from insisting on His own rights or benefits, He actually let go of every good thing He had, quite freely and from His own choice. He became less and less. He became a servant, and then a condemned criminal suffering torture on a cross. He didn’t take advantage of His privileged position, but gave everything up, in order to rescue you and me.

He’s not suddenly going to start being selfish and demanding now, is He? Instead, won’t He love and bless you (and me) more and more, as we give him more and more of ourselves?

Prayer: Thank You, Lord Jesus, that You didn’t even take advantage of Your privileged position of being equal to God, but laid Your life down for me. Please help me to trust You completely. Please heal me of all the pain from people I trusted in the past who have hurt me. I choose to release and forgive them and move on. I give You my hurting, lonely, weak self and thank You for giving me so much of You, Your wonderful, kind, patient, generous and accepting love. Amen.

Healing the Past, Releasing Your Future - Book

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

The Body

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100
Colossians 1:18, BBE
And he is the head of the body, the church: the starting point of all things, the first to come again from the dead; so that in all things he might have the chief place.

Of all God’s creation the thing that amazes me most is God’s most unique creation, man. God not only made him a spiritual being but a physical and emotional being with a body, a soul and a spirit.

I have observed this fact about my own body; when I see a part of my body is facing danger, another part of my body tries to protect it. For example if I was walking along and something flew up and over my head, maybe only the leaf of a tree, both my hands would react by covering my head to protect it.

Last year I fell and broke my ankle. Though the place that hurt was my ankle, my whole body went into shock and trembled. The rest of my body also reacted. My mouth called for help (having been instructed by my mind to do so) and my hand rubbed my leg, trying to comfort it. It’s just amazing how the whole body responds in harmony together.

Paul’s letter to the Colossians says that the Church is a body, and Jesus is the head of this body. And this is what Paul wrote in Romans, ‘For, as we have a number of parts in one body, but all the parts have not the same use, so we, though we are a number of persons, are one body in Christ, and are dependent on one another’ (Romans 12:4-5).

The most interesting thing to me is what Paul says in Colossians Chapter 12, and I recommend that you read it. He says that the body of Christ (the Church) should function as one. What an amazing way of describing the role we have as the Church. It would be ridiculous to think of my mind saying, ‘it’s just the ankle so I’ll ignore it’, or my mouth saying, ‘it’s just the ankle, what’s that to do with me?’ God created the body in such a way that all its parts automatically respond to one other.

We as the Church, the body of Christ, should be able to respond to one another in love. Jesus said ‘love one another and when you do this the world will know that you are mine’. Instead of casting blame and pointing the finger we should protect, strengthen, encourage, uplift and support one another. We should pray in unity with each other for the sake of the Gospel, especially in these last days.

Each individual member is a part of the body, and every part should coordinate and move together. If all of us do our part then God will command a blessing (Psalms 133). Do your part today. Encourage someone, pray for someone, pray for the nations where there is persecution of believers and pray for those whom God has called into the five fold ministry.

Prayer: Father God, I thank You for the price paid on the cross so that I can be part of Your body. I pray that You will open my eyes to see what part of the body I am. Help me to do what is right for Your Church, Your body. Give me a passion to love the body of Jesus and see that it grows. Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Living the Life - DVD Series. Great for House Groups!

Are You Wearing Old Clothes?

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100
1 Timothy 6:11, NIV
But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.

Holiness is separating ourselves from the world, the flesh and the devil, and putting off ‘the old self’ (our old sinful ways), and then putting on ‘the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness’ (Ephesians 4:22-23). It means separating ourselves to the Lord. We must throw out the old dirty carpet tiles before we can lay the new carpet tiles. We have to put something old off before we can put something new on.

The apostle Paul writes to Timothy and tells him to pursue ‘righteousness, godliness, faith, love endurance and gentleness’. To do this we need to deal with ‘unholiness’. When all known ‘unholiness’ has been washed away we can focus on pursuing holiness. We begin with repentance and cleansing and then we find we have a greater desire to spend time with God and develop a closer intimacy with Him.

In his book called ‘Set Apart – Discovering Personal Victory through Holiness’ Bruce Wilkinson quotes two shocking statistics. The first one is that the average born-again believer prays for less than two minutes a day, not counting prayers at meals or at Christian functions. Secondly, the average born-again believer reads the Bible for less than three minutes a day, discounting corporate Bible readings. Do these statistics surprise or shock you? Or instead do they make you feel uncomfortable because they describe you?

I believe we need to start breaking free from spiritual shallowness and move out in radical, biblical Christianity. We need to sow the seeds of holiness now if we are to reap a harvest of holiness later on. ‘For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight’ (Ephesians 1:4). Jesus Christ is going to return for ‘a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless’ (Ephesians 5:27). Are we preparing ourselves now, to be ready for when He returns?

In order to be holy we have to flee from everything ‘unholy’ and pursue righteousness as our verse today tells us. This is a person-to-person call placed by God on you and me. He is beckoning us to come out from all ungodliness and all conduct we know is inappropriate and to be separated unto Him, to depart from everything that isn’t Him and to devote ourselves fully to Him.

Pursuing righteousness is not optional for us. Our hearts need to discover the incredible power of God which is released when we’re obedient to this Scripture verse. We need to flee from all that is ungodly and pursue righteousness. Today is a good day to start.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, help me to be obedient to You in this and to get rid of everything that displeases You in my life, and to have a passion for righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Please release the power of the Holy Spirit to enable me to embark on this today. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

NETS Training School

Sex - God's Truth - Book by Jill Southern

God’s Strategy for His Victories in My Life

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0100
2 Samuel 5:24-25, NIV
As soon as you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam tress, move quickly, because that will mean the Lord has gone out in front of you to strike the Philistine army. So David did as the Lord commanded him, and he struck down the Philistines all the way from Gibeon to Gezer'.

The moment David was anointed King over Israel he became a target for the enemies of Israel. In those days the Philistines were the chief enemies of God’s people, especially since the battle between Israel and the Philistines, in the days of King Saul, when David successfully killed Goliath with his sling and the first of his five smooth stones. There was no doubt that amongst the Philistines, David was probably the most hated of men. He had removed from them their champion, Goliath, and now he was King.

So the Philistines went up against King David ‘in full force to search for him’, (2 Samuel 5:17). But David was wise enough to ask the Lord what to do and as a result of hearing the Lord’s instruction, and then being obedient, the Philistines suffered a major defeat (2 Samuel 5:20-21). But before long the Philistines tried again. David might have thought ‘I’ll do just what the Lord told us to do last time’ – but if he had done that, he would have been defeated. David enquired of the Lord again what to do and God gave him a different strategy – to circle round the Philistine army and attack them from behind.

Then the Lord gave David the specific instruction which is our Scripture for today. Don’t move until you hear a rustling (the sound of marching) in the tops of the trees – and when you do, then move quickly. Once again David was obedient to the Lord and had another major victory.

There are four vital lessons out of this story. The first is this – whenever you face a difficulty, and don’t know what to do ‘Ask the Lord’. Secondly, when you know that God has spoken, obey. Thirdly, don’t presume that what happened last time will happen again – always go back to the Lord for his advice, even if circumstances look the same. Then fourthly, there will be times when you may need to wait for a sign from the Lord that now is the time to act.

If we carefully apply these vital lessons from the Word of God in our daily battling against our spiritual enemy, then we can be confident that He will go before us, as He did for David, and lead us into His victories.

Prayer: Lord, thank you that you are a God who answers the prayers of your children, when they look to you for guidance as David did. Help me, Lord, to be careful to listen to what You are saying to me, so that I will not fall into the traps of the enemy in the way I conduct my life. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Forgiveness - The Master Key - Book by Peter Horrobin

Wisdom

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0100
Proverbs 2:4- 5, Amplified Bible
If you seek Wisdom as for silver and search for skilful and godly Wisdom as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the reverent and worshipful fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of our omniscient God.

I wonder how Obed-Edom felt when the Ark of the Covenant was first brought into his house? (1 Chronicles 13:13). He had no doubt seen Uzza being struck down by the Lord for daring to touch it during David’s ill-fated attempt to bring it to Jerusalem. David had ignored all the Lord’s instructions about how to lift it on poles carried by the Levites, and had instead constructed a new cart for it. When the oxen drawing the cart stumbled, Uzza put his hand out to prevent the ark from falling and the Lord struck him down.

I can imagine Obed-Edom feeling very fearful when he saw David heading in the direction of his house and must have wondered if he too, might be struck dead. Gradually, however, as he began to feel the tremendous blessings of the Lord on him and all his house, his terror changed to awe and reverence. The ark was only resting there for three months before David removed it, correctly this time, and took it to its resting place in Jerusalem. For Obed-Edom that must have been a sad day. He had been deeply touched by the Lord’s presence and did not want to be away from Him again. The last reference to him says that he was one of the gate-keepers to the ark (1 Chronicles 15: 21).

Today there is a great deal of teaching about how much God loves us, rightly, but less on the fear of the Lord. We somehow need to strike a proper balance between the image of ‘Daddy God’, who loves each one of us passionately, and the awesome, mighty God, the Alpha and Omega, who holds the entire world in His hands and knows our every thought, even before we speak it. (Psalm 139: 4).

Prayer: Heavenly Father, Thank You so much for Your wonderful love for me. Please forgive me if I have approached You in an irreverent way and help me to recognise Your holiness. Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

God's Fire - Teaching CD

Tender Hearts, Humble Minds

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0100
1 Peter 3:8, LB
You should be like one big happy family, full of sympathy toward each other loving one another with tender hearts and humble minds.

Some of us think that it is our right to be served in many ways and complain if we don’t get the satisfaction of service that we think we should have. Yet our Master was a servant to all. I know I often have just one thing on my mind, (what I am about to do or the things on my ‘to do’ list for the day). But I forget that those I meet that might be stressed, sick, sad or lonely. Just a little interest, kindness and concern for them would really warm their hearts and lift their spirits, especially during this season of the year. It would be like the sun coming out on a dull, rainy morning and lighting up all the grass, trees and houses, making everything look fresh and new.

In the Bible it says, ‘when others are happy, be happy with them. If they are sad share their sorrow’ (Romans 12:15). So maybe I could slow down a little and take a moment to listen to others. Jesus went about doing good, giving hope to all He met and having compassion for those in need. When we share His love and compassion with others they can know there is something special in what we do because we love the Lord. We can preach the Gospel in this way, even without words.

There’s a lovely programme on the television where they get a volunteer, who’s a millionaire, to live and work in a poor community, disguised as someone who has nothing. The millionaire stays there for a few months and gets to know people, finds someone who has a special need and at the end suddenly presents that person with a financial gift to help make a dream come true. It’s lovely to see the surprise and joy on the faces of both the receiver and the giver. It reminds me of how Jesus ‘laid aside his mighty power and glory, taking the disguise of a slave’ (Philippians 2:7).

Prayer: Lord, Help us to have ‘servant hearts’ like Yours. May we be happy to do the humble things You ask of us. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

ShepherdLove Series - Books/CDs by Pam Smith

Pressing In

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0100
Hebrews 12:1, NIV
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

When I was in high school I was part of the cross country ski team. Many nights I practised - sometimes with the team, sometimes on my own. Our coach would often stress the necessary discipline to ‘press in’ and attack the many hills laid out on our school’s 10 kilometer course. It was necessary to maintain our pace and even to increase it when going up the hills. That way we wouldn’t lose our momentum. It was interesting that during the team practice, I was greatly motivated to press on up the hills when I had team mates ahead or especially when they were behind me. But when I was on my own, when no one else was looking, I was tempted to take it easy or even to stop and rest.

I think it’s like that as Christians. When we have others around us, also going through the tough situation, we often rise to the occasion and triumph over the obstacle set before us. But what happens when we’re on our own, with no one around to examine our efforts? What happens when there’s no one to ‘see’ how fast we’re going in the race that’s set before all who profess Jesus as their Lord. There are many lonely tracks stretched out on the course for believers. In my youth the efforts I put in when I was alone in the hills on the 10 k course dictated how well I was to do when called upon to carry my team to victory. Great would be the cheers of the spectators on the day of the race as they saw the effort we made as we pressed on up those hills! How are you doing when the hills of life come upon you in your race?

I encourage you to maintain your momentum and keep the pace, as you keep the necessary discipline of pressing in to what is set before you. The Lord is our strength in times of trouble. He will strengthen the weary in their hardship and will help you up the hills and through to the other side towards victory, as you lean on Him and trust in Him! Don’t let’s forget that those who’ve gone before us are witnesses to our efforts, and they’re cheering us with great exuberant cheers through the hills of our course, as we keep pressing in!

Prayer: Lord we need You. Our efforts to run the race sometimes seem so small, and often futile. Give us the strength to endure through to the end, and help us, dear Lord, not to quit even when we’re discouraged, but to rise up with new effort as You come and strengthen us in our spirits. Would You come and minister to us, giving us new vision for the course before us, and renewed hope to press in? Thank You, Lord Jesus, for giving us strength to continue to run the race set before us and to live victoriously in this day. Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Healing and Destiny - Teaching CD

Friends of God

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0100
Romans 5:11, NLT
So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God - all because of what our Lord Jesus Christ has done for us in making us friends of God.

I'm not the most technically-minded person on the planet! My five year old can operate the television remote controls better than I can, and will often be called to come to my rescue. With that in mind, nobody is more surprised than I am that I have become a fan of something so modern and technically advanced as ‘Facebook’!

Being overseas from family and friends, I have really enjoyed catching up with everyone's news and photos via ‘Facebook’. It has amazed me how easy it is to get back in touch with people you knew years ago in just the click of a button. It also amazes me how easy and effortless it is to collect friends, as my list grows week by week!

As great as it is, we must be so careful with the advancement of technology in social networking, that we don't overstretch the definition of the word ‘Friend’ in our hearts. When God says that He calls us ‘Friend’ it means so much more than the quick conversation and ‘catch up’. It means a relationship that is deep and intimate - a relationship where we can be ourselves and not be afraid of rejection - a friendship like we will find in no other relationship on this planet. No wife, husband, best mate, mother, father, child or twin can fill that need in our hearts to be loved and accepted like Jesus can!

We don't have to explain ourselves with Jesus. And He never changes His mind. He's not subject to mood swings. He’s the same, yesterday, today and forever and His love for us never waivers. His commitment to us never weakens.

All of us can grow in our relationship with the Lord. We can fall deeper in love with Him, and learn more of who He is and His love for us. I want to encourage you today to make Jesus your first love - your best friend. The person to whom you reveal the secrets of your heart and the one in whom you place your ultimate trust.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, what a privilege that You would call me Your friend! Lord, I’m sorry if I have looked to others to be the intimate love of my heart. Please show me how to build my relationship with You and to fall deeper in love with You each day of my life, in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Right Relationships - Book by Tom Marshall

The Lost Cat

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0100
Matthew 10:29, NLT
What is the price of two sparrows — one copper coin? But not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it.

“I can’t find the cat!” my sister said. One look at her face and her eyes, wide with concern, and I immediately slipped on my coat, ready to go outside. I knew what she meant. This was New Year’s Day, people had been drinking like fish the night before, and the roads were the last place you’d want to be! Anxiety was now rapidly building in me too.

“God…” I started praying, but was stopped by the lump in my throat. I couldn’t, or wouldn’t talk to God right now. Better to call and search! Of course, the first place I hurried to was the road, which I searched thoroughly. “Kémuel!” I screamed in vain. I came back home heavy-hearted, shaking my head. This was a bad start to the day. We tried to get on with preparing for the feast to come, but our thoughts were elsewhere. Mum suggested praying, but I wouldn’t hear of it. We had lost several cats in the past, and it always started the same way. No matter how hard I prayed, nothing changed. It seemed like a curse.

In the end I decided I could speak to God about my anger and sorrow. Immediately a verse came into my mind: “What is the price of two sparrows - one copper coin? But not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it.” It was as if God was telling me He had seen what had happened to my other cats, and He didn’t condemn me for the grief I had felt over them. I heaved a sigh of relief and murmured back: “God, I trust you! I don’t know what’s going to happen to my cat, but I put my whole life in your hands, whatever the outcome.” Relief washed over me. I wouldn’t let myself fully hope, for fear of discovering the worst. Still, I sensed God had touched the real issue. The loss and grief I would feel if I were to lose another pet.

At that moment, a muffled meowing came from behind the closed shutters. My heart soared as I rushed to open the window, and sure enough there he was. I can’t tell you how much I thanked God. Mum told me later she had felt prompted to pray for our little animal. More than an answer to prayer, this whole experience had taught me an important lesson.

Sometimes, things can come between us and our communication with God; between us and our ability to feel the Father’s heart; between us and His answer to our prayers. Things like unhealed hurts, disappointments or even curses. But God doesn’t condemn us when we come to Him with it all. No, He understands. He gently takes our pain away and shelters us under His wings and deals with what needs to be dealt with!

Prayer: Father, thank You because You truly are my refuge. Today, I come to You as I am, with what I have. Help me to not be mad at You, but to open my heart to You, so that You can deal with my real enemy. Take away everything that has distorted my relationship with You. And help me to get back what the enemy has robbed me of. Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Life's Decisions - Teaching CD

Overcoming insecurity and a sense of failure

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0100
Exodus 3:10, NIV
"Go, I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt".

When it was discovered that Moses had murdered an Egyptian he ran for his life to Midian, a distance of at least two hundred miles. Many years later God called to Moses from a burning bush and told him: ‘I have seen the misery of My people in Egypt, have heard them crying out because of their slavery, and am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them’ (Exodus 3:7-8).

Having felt for his own people as they were suffering at the hands of the Egyptians, this must have encouraged Moses immensely. But he was completely unprepared for what the LORD said next. He was not prepared when God commissioned him to lead the Israelites out of Egypt.

Moses was to go to Pharaoh and ask him to release the people to go for a three-day journey into the desert to offer sacrifices to the LORD God. Even though God promised to be with him when he did this Moses became panicky, and presented all the reasons why he thought he was unsuitable for the task.

With miraculous signs God tried to convince Moses that He was with him and would help him. Yet Moses still argued that he was unsuited for the task, to the point that God ‘s anger was roused (Exodus 4:14).

Have you ever had the experience when you have felt God speaking to you and showing you a task He wanted you to undertake for Him, but you felt totally unsuitable? When God called me to leave secular employment and train to be a pastor I was convinced He’d got the wrong man, and, like Moses, could give reasons for being unsuitable and even thought of other people who were more gifted for that task. It was only through responding in obedience that I learned how God is able to do what He’s planned. He’s able to reach and save lost souls, deliver bound people and heal the sick. These were the very things I had read of Jesus and His disciples doing, and questioned why such things were not happening in the Churches today.

It’s wonderful how God chooses and uses ordinary people like us to do extraordinary things for Him by the power of His Holy Spirit working in and through us. As we consider the way God used Moses, during the next forty years of his life, to bring the Children of Israel out of Egypt to the Promised Land, we have an example of how God fulfils His plans. This is possible when those He calls are obedient to His call and His guidance.

As we progress into this New Year, may we carefully listen for God, respond willingly in obedience to Him, and look on in amazement as we see Him do extraordinary things through ordinary individuals like us.

Prayer: O Lord God, I am sorry, and ask You to forgive me for those times when I have not listened to You, and let You down by doing things in my own strength. Please help me to listen more attentively to You when You speak, and respond obediently to Your instructions, I pray, in Jesus Name. Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Living in the Promises - Teaching CD

Discipline

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0100
Hebrews 12:1, NIV
Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

Some people seem to succeed in everything: their families, personal lives, and their work lives as well as service in the Church or ministry. They are active and are really going for God. When you get close to them and try to determine just how they manage to fulfil so much of their potential you’ll find that discipline plays a significant role.

Discipline is one of the most important character qualities we can possess and plays a key role in every area of life. It means that, often, we have to make a decision to face the tough challenges first so that we can enjoy the rewards later. When we go to a university or college we are choosing to put off earning money now so that we will benefit later on.

Discipline will also involve planning ahead. For example, if we are living on a budget we will have to plan and work out what our expenses are in advance, and however much we may like to buy something which isn’t in our budget, we can’t allow ourselves to do it. We’ve already made the decision about it ahead of time.

We can’t live our life making last minute, knee-jerk decisions. We have to do things because we have already planned what we should be doing. We can’t leave making a decision whether to go to the early morning, prayer meeting until we’re feeling tempted not to go, in the pleasant warmth of our beds. We have to have already decided what to do before then.

Galatians 5:23 says that the Holy Spirit helps us to produce discipline in our lives. We can always depend on God for His strength for us to do His will in our lives.

There are pay-offs for discipline. If we are spiritually disciplined, the reward is a victorious and fulfilled Christian life. The pay-off for financial discipline is freedom from debt, always having sufficient for our outgoings and an ability to give to the needs of others.

The rewards for discipline are great but they’re not instant. The world and the flesh clamours for instant gratification. “I must have it now!” despite the consequences. The world wants quick fixes. Therefore, it can be hard to choose the disciplined lifestyle, but we will never be the people God has called us to be without discipline.

Do we get up late? Skip our prayer time and rush out to work without eating breakfast? Are there areas in our life that need discipline?

Jesus calls His disciples to be disciplined. Today is not too soon to take our first small step towards a disciplined lifestyle. ‘Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us’ (Hebrews 12:1).

Prayer: Lord Jesus I know that in my life there are undisciplined areas that I need to address. Will You help me to start recognising them today. I know You want me to be led by the Holy Spirit, not by my carnal nature. I thank You that You’re changing me into the image of the Son of God and I want to work with You so that these things can be accomplished in my life. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

NETS Training School

Sex - God's Truth - Book by Jill Southern

The Winter is Past!

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0100
Song of Songs 2:11-13, NIV
See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone. Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come, the cooing of doves is heard in our land. The fig tree forms its early fruit; the blossoming vines spread their fragrance.

In January much of England was under a thick blanket of snow which remained for nearly two weeks in some parts. When the snow finally melted in our garden, I noticed some little snowdrops which had pushed their way up through the hard ground and had been flowering under the snow. These delicate little flowers were tough enough to flourish even in such harsh conditions and were a sign that springtime was to follow.

Sometimes in our Christian lives it seems as if we are in a winter season, when nothing appears to be happening and the circumstances seem very hard. If you are feeling like that today, be encouraged. God always wants to bring new growth in our lives and to give us new beginnings, in the same way as spring follows winter.

With plants and trees there needs to be a dying back of the old before the new growth can emerge. We sometimes also need to go through such a time in our lives. Often there is much happening below the surface during winter in preparation for the new growth. Similarly in our lives, even when there appears to be nothing happening, God can be at work preparing us for the new season.

Today’s verses from Song of Songs tell us to see that the winter is past and a new season has come. Perhaps God wants to encourage you by saying the same to some of you today. The exhortation is then: ‘Arise, come, my darling, my beautiful one, come with me’ (Song of Songs 2:13b). God may be calling you today to rise up out of the passive ‘winter’ season of your life and to go on with Him, in the intimacy of relationship that we can have with Him, into a new season of growth and fruitfulness.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You that You are always at work in my life, even when I don’t feel anything happening. I want to rise up now and come with You into all that You have for me, and I pray that it will be a new season of fruitfulness with You. Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Living in the Promises - Teaching CD

Are you a ‘High Definition’ Christian?

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0100
Philippians 2:15-16, NIV
So that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life.

According to current advertising it would seem that the latest ‘must have’ in home entertainment is an HD television. These ‘High Definition’ televisions are said to give a much improved and brighter, clearer picture in which everything can be seen in greater detail. These new TVs are designed to give a sharper, crisper picture and display an image which is bright, clear and easily seen, and more like the real thing.

What about us? As Christians shouldn’t our lives portray an image of Jesus which is clear, easily defined and as close to the real thing as possible? Perhaps there are areas which are somewhat blurred and indistinct and not always as clear as they should be.

We may not be called to hold a prominent position – but perhaps a strategic place in the home; not a church leader – but nevertheless a very valuable member of the congregation. Wherever God has placed us we have an image and a message to convey. Is this message clear and undistorted? Is there indeed a contrast between us and those around us, who don’t profess to be Christians, in what we say and what we do? Is the contrast obvious? Or in the interest of ‘Political Correctness’ is our image becoming increasingly more fuzzy and indistinct as we merge in with the majority.

In these dark days God is looking for a people who can be a beacon on a hill projecting a beam of light which is bright and clearly defined as it seeks to present the un-distorted truth of God. The Apostle Paul says ‘If the trumpet does not sound a clear call, who will get ready for the battle?’ (1 Corinthians 14:8), and these challenging words are included in Chris Bowater’s song ‘Here I am’ (1981 Sovereign Lifestyle Music, Ltd):

‘As salt our we ready to savour,

In darkness are we ready to be light?

God’s seeking out a very special people

To manifest His truth and His might.’

Prayer: Dear Lord, I’m sorry that the image I so often portray of You isn’t always what it should be, please help me to portray a clearer and more distinct image of You from today onwards. Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Healing and Destiny - Teaching CD

Only One Thing

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0100
Luke 10:41, LB
But the Lord said to her, “Martha, dear friend, you are so upset over all these details! There is really only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it – and I won’t take it away from her!”

I had worked for about ten hours on creating a piece of work on my computer, which I was very excited about, when in a couple of seconds it all disappeared in front of my eyes and I was very upset. Then I read the above words and they went deep into my spirit.

I thought how much life is like that. It is like a vapour that lasts for a little while and then vanishes. Jesus wants to give us something that can never be taken away. I know that I should be like Mary, wanting that one thing that’s worth far more than anything else.

As it says in Psalm 27.4, ‘The one thing I want from God, the thing I seek most of all, is the privilege of meditating in His Temple, living in his presence every day of my life, delighting in his incomparable perfections and glory’.

If I wanted this more than anything else these trials and disappointments would have little effect compared to the gladness and joy He gives, which is far greater than anything we can achieve or create. This is something, way beyond ourselves, that is worth being concerned about and we can’t be robbed of this joy.

We can welcome Jesus into our lives and even serve him, like Martha, and yet still be too busy to listen to Him. But Jesus really loved Martha and didn’t want her to miss out.

Prayer: Forgive me Lord, for being busy and concerned about little things. Help me to sit at Your feet and to choose the best part that can never be taken away, like Mary. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Use your Mind

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0100
1 Corinthians 2:16, NIV
But we have the mind of Christ…

Sometimes it seems to me that the mind – I’m talking about the reasoning part of our soul which responds directly to our senses, to what we see and hear, is an undervalued part of our beings. Sometimes it is viewed with suspicion, or seen only as an enemy of our spirits, an enemy of faith. The subtle lie is introduced that intellect and faith are incompatible, and especially it seems in today’s culture, that science and God are incompatible. We are repeatedly told that our mind is a battleground, and that every sin starts in the mind.

Of course there is the unregenerate, sinful mind of which these things are true. But there is also a renewed mind, and a reason that leads to faith and does not oppose it. God gave you a mind. He gave you a hand, and you use it without thinking. You use your feet without hesitation. So why not your mind?

If sin begins in the mind, how much more powerfully will righteousness begin there if we allow God to renew our minds?

Christ had a mind, an intellect, and I am sure He used it in a godly way that glorified His father. Indeed, we too can have the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2.16).

Moreover there were plenty of people in the Bible who put their minds to good use.

The centurion had heard about Jesus (Matthew 8:6-10). As he considered what Jesus was like he reasoned that Jesus didn’t need to visit his house to heal his servant – Jesus only had to give a command. Jesus was amazed at his faith – and it started in his mind. Abraham too thought it all through. Hebrews 11:19 tells us that before he went to sacrifice Isaac at God’s command, he reasoned that God could raise him from the dead. So there is a godly reason that leads to faith, which prompts and strengthens it. Paul had it – consider the godly logic of Romans chapters 1 – 8, where every new thought is built upon the ‘therefore’ of a previous set of statements. Faith and intellect can mutually encourage one another. So don’t leave your mind at the door of the Church – use it to build your faith!

Prayer: Lord please help me to use my God-given intellect in a right way. May my reason produce and encourage faith, as I consider Your ways.

Living in the Promises - Teaching CD

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Discipleship - Its challenge.

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0100
John 13:37, NIV
Peter asked, ‘Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.’

For many Christians Peter is the disciple we can most readily identify with, because of the shortcomings he displays.

In this verse I identify with his desire to stick close to Jesus whatever the cost and wish I had Peter’s directness and boldness at times, especially when I’m amongst those whose faith and commitment seem to have slipped into the ‘easy chair’.

Peter’s question, ‘Lord, why can’t I follow you now?’ was really the desire of his heart at that moment, and I don’t doubt that he meant what he said. But what Peter didn’t know was that a series of circumstances would soon follow where the real weaknesses within him would be revealed.

Probably we all have heart’s desires that are genuine like Peter’s, but when we’re faced with totally unexpected situations we discover just how powerless we are, and like Peter, we fall short.

Jesus knew all about how Peter would fail and deny Him, long before it happened, but that didn’t prevent Him calling Peter to follow Him.

Jesus reinstated Peter after the Resurrection, and he became a mighty man of God in the early church. Tradition has it that Peter was crucified upside down at the end of his ministry. When Jesus calls us to follow Him can we face the challenge of what it could eventually lead to?

Prayer: Dear Lord Jesus, thank You for calling me to follow You, and thank You for all the help You’ve given me over the years as I’ve endeavoured to fulfil that call. Please help me to be aware of pitfalls, and help me avoid those situations where I could so easily fail You, Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Waiting for the Bridegroom

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0100
Matthew 25: 1 – 2, NIV
Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise.

The first service of the New Year in our church was the Covenant service, when we remind ourselves of the vows we have made to our heavenly Bridegroom. Similar to the Lordship prayer we often pray at Ellel Grange, the Covenant prayer reminds us that we have promised to serve our Lord wholeheartedly, whether it is glamorous or not, whether it is costly or not and whether what He asks us to do is something we want to do or not. This is followed by Communion, reminding us that Jesus has kept His side of the bargain completely, and that He has fulfilled all the promises made to us through His sacrifice on the cross.

Last year, my husband and I celebrated our fortieth wedding anniversary. We had a wonderful party to celebrate and a blessing in church which brought back many happy memories. Our courting had been brief, and at a distance, so there were many phone calls to keep in touch and deepen our relationship.

Our courting with our heavenly Bridegroom has been much longer of course, though there are many signs which appear to be showing that all our waiting may soon come to an end. But how has the courting been? Have we been constantly “on the telephone” and really getting to know Jesus through His Word?

It’s still not too late to make New Year’s resolutions so maybe it’s time for some of us to make a fresh resolve to keep in better touch with our Bridegroom and to ensure we aren’t caught without the oil in our lamps.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, I don’t know when You are coming back, but I want to be ready for You when You do come. Please forgive me that I don’t spend enough time with You, and help me, through the power of Your Holy Spirit, to set aside more time to get to know You better. Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Living in Vision - Teaching CD

No Secrets from God!

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0100
Isaiah 29:15, NIV
Woe to those who go to great depths to hide their plans from the Lord, who do their work in darkness and think, 'Who sees us? Who will know?'

It seems very obvious that there is nothing in all of creation that can be hidden from God. There is nowhere in the universe we can go to escape His presence. He is everywhere – and how I praise God that He is everywhere. The world would be a pretty scary place if there were places where it was impossible to be in touch with Him. It’s not difficult to find a place where your mobile phone is out of reach of a signal – but it’s impossible to find a place which is out of reach of God.

And yet people behave as if this obvious fact is not a fact at all. They harbour secret sins in their mind, hide their ungodly behaviour from others, somehow or other thinking that if nobody else knows about it, then God doesn’t know about it either! We reduce the vision of God to that of physical humanity and are deceived by the enemy into thinking that there will never be any accounting for hidden works of darkness.

But the truth is that one day there will be an accounting. Everything that was hidden will be exposed for ‘nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account’ (Hebrews 4:13). And when that happens there will be nowhere for us to hide. I have come to realise that hidden sins stack up like secret bricks around our heart. The more bricks there are the more our heart is hidden from the love of God and the more artificial our relationships become with God and everyone else. Eventually we would finish up with a hardened heart and an artificial personality.

There is only one solution – repentance at the foot of the cross. There is only one solvent that can melt the hardest of hearts and that’s the love of Jesus. But not even the love of Jesus can melt away the hardness, if we don’t own the reality of what we’ve been doing and come before him in repentance. Better to shed genuine tears of repentance here, and experience the love of Jesus melting away the consequences of forgiven sin, than to try and keep things hidden and suffer the wrath of God in eternity. An open heart before God is quickly healed!

Prayer: I am so sorry, Lord, for the times when I have been deceived into thinking that I can hide things from you. Please forgive me, and help me to face reality about the hidden things of my past and live my life as an open book before you in the future. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Forgiveness - The Master Key - Book by Peter Horrobin

How discerning are you?

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0100
1 John 4:1, NIV
Dear friends do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

In these days of difficulties when we are all waiting to hear God’s solutions for our crises, it is tempting to take every word that others say as if it is God’s word, especially if it sounds plausible. We need to be discerning so that we hear the true word from the Lord, otherwise we might put the wrong actions into motion.

I recently had a practical illustration of this. We needed a new thermostat for our heating system at home, and I duly went to the suppliers to buy one. When fitted by the electrician it looked good, but didn’t work properly. We assumed it was faulty and exchanged it for one which looked better - it even had a blue light in it! This didn’t work either, and we considered putting in a bigger heating system. However we then discovered we had the wrong type of thermostat for our heating system. When the right type was installed, all worked wonderfully. Testing the system would have helped in the first place.

The enemy loves to deceive. When people are hungry for God’s direction they are tempted to be hearers and doers without being testers. It’s so important that we not only test the spirits, but also weigh what’s being said in the light of who’s saying it. Does the person bringing this word have integrity and credibility? Are those in leadership happy with the prophet as well as the words he or she speaks?

I believe that God has important things to say to us in the light of the current financial situation, but He also wants us to be discerning. ‘It’s best to test before we invest’.

Prayer: Father, thank You that you are always ready to speak to us in our time of need. Thank You that Your Word is always Truth. Help us to be discerning as we listen for that Word, so we aren’t led astray by deceptive ideas, and we can follow Your perfect plan for our lives. Amen.

Discernment and Deception - Teaching CD

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Removing the covers!

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0100
Psalm 51:6, NLB
But you desire honesty from the heart so you can teach me to be wise in my inmost being.

When we first moved to Florida we were given a rather old fashioned pair of sofas. As the sofas were excellent quality but just not our style, we decided to disguise them with modern sofa covers. They looked great, but took up lots of time each day re-arranging and adjusting them trying to keep them in place. Despite being washed many times, after 3 years of being sat on by the family and the dog, the covers were officially dead! No cushion, throw or pillow was going to pretend otherwise! So, a few months ago, I pulled off the covers and tossed them in the trash.

This got me thinking. How much do we hide ourselves under cushions, blankets and covers trying to be something that we aren't - trying to fit other people's expectations or ‘likes’? Maybe we have produced our own covers because we really dislike what’s underneath and we feel ashamed and afraid that the real ‘me’ isn't good enough.

It’s scary, but just too easy to do! Instead of allowing the Lord to reveal the truth of our hearts, we cover it over and pretend it’s not there. Whatever’s underneath - jealousy, bitterness, pride, a hunger for love and acceptance, greed, a deep search for significance and worth, judgment and criticism (the list goes on...) - God wants us to be real. He wants us to come to Him in truth - flaws and all.

What a relief to give up the pretence and the sheer effort of keeping ourselves covered! Jesus sees all the beauty and muck that we’ve hidden, and He accepts us. Does He want us to change? Absolutely, but we can't do it ourselves in our own strength. Only He can bring the true change to our lives, as we acknowledge our need (or repent of our sinful ways), and allow Him to transform us deep on the inside.

Today, will you ask the Lord to show you any covers you have adopted and dare to trust Him to reach underneath with His love and His truth?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, I’m sorry for the times I have tried to re-create myself into someone I deem more acceptable either to You or the people in my life. Thank You that, as the craftsman of my life, You love me as your precious creation. Lord, please help me to be real. Would You show me the covers I have placed over my heart, and would You help me to begin a journey of walking in true relationship with You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Creativity and Healing - Teaching CD

To Whom Shall We Go?

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0100
John 6:68-69, NKJ
But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Man goes to the ends of the earth or even searches the World Wide Web for the knowledge of the truth, to find their ‘raison d‘être’ - to understand why they were born.

They go to a thousand different gods to find food for their souls and enlightenment for their spirits. But Jesus says ‘Come to me all you that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest, for my yoke is easy and burden is light and you will find rest for your souls’ (Matthew 11:28-30).

Some may go through unspeakable tragedies, painful illnesses, unbearable losses and heartaches. When these things happen it’s very hard to face them alone and sometimes not even enough for someone close to console you, it’s then, knowing that Jesus is holding you, bearing you up by his Holy Spirit, that you have the hope and the will to carry on. It’s often in a tragedy that something beautiful can be born in you – like the new buds that burst forth from the fir cones after a forest fire. If it wasn’t for the fire, the seed would never break out.

But we can’t always see where we are in the plan of God. When we think something is the end, it’s often the beginning. So to whom can we go when we need that answer in our lives but to the ‘Light of the World,’ the One who can give us the ‘Light of Life’. If the apostle Peter was speaking the truth, there’s no one else to go to, and Jesus will give us rest for our soul.

Prayer: Jesus – be the centre, be my source, be my light. Jesus – be the centre, be my hope, be my song, be the fire in my heart, be the wind in my sails, be the reason that I live, Jesus. Jesus be my vision, be my path, be my guide, Jesus.

(From Vineyard lyrics by Michael Frye.)

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

ShepherdLove Series - Books/CDs by Pam Smith

Holding a grudge can hold you back!

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0100
Genesis 50:15, NIV
What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him?

In 2001 the world’s first secular forgiveness course was held at Leeds University. The candidates on the course included victims of burglary, bullying, abuse, abandonment, betrayal and jilted husbands. They were all angry and bitter, wanting revenge. The Daily Telegraph reviewed the conference under the heading, “Holding a grudge can hold you back and even damage your health.”

When Joseph was a youth, his brothers hated him to the extent that they were willing to do anything to get rid of him. Initially they contemplated murder and then decided on selling him into slavery in Egypt. The root of the brothers’ hatred was jealousy. Joseph was the favourite son of his father Jacob.

After their father Jacob had been buried the brothers became anxious and disturbed. They had been re-united now with Joseph and he had dealt kindly with them. Obviously he had truly forgiven them, but now they asked one another a burning question, ‘What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him?’ (Genesis 50:15)

Joseph’s brothers misjudged him. Long ago he had forgiven their jealousy, cruelty and murderous thoughts. He had let them off the hook completely. His words to his brothers when they asked for his forgiveness were, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good” (Genesis 50:17-20).

Here are two questions –Firstly, do you hold a grudge against someone? If so, today, choose to truly forgive that person and let them off the hook. Holding a grudge can certainly hold you back in your relationship with God and also with others. It may even damage your health.

Secondly, do others hold a grudge against you? If so seek to be reconciled to them. If they’re unwilling, let them off the hook and cease to fret over them. Allow God, who knows every heart, to develop your character through the experience. Whatever your circumstances today, remember that God intends every experience in your life to be for your good. He works it out that way when your heart attitude is right before Him.

Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for Your dealings in my life and for the many times I’ve experienced You working through difficult relationships to develop my character. I choose not to hold a grudge against anyone. Thank You for Your unlimited forgiveness. I desire to live in forgiveness towards others because I’ve been forgiven by You. Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Forgiveness - the Master Key - Book by Peter Horrobin

Healing through Forgiveness 1 - Teaching CD

He has Scattered

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0100
Luke 1:51, NIV
He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.

In Luke 1 we read that Mary, pregnant with Jesus, visited her relative Elizabeth. As soon as Elizabeth heard Mary’s voice, her own baby (the future John the Baptist) leapt in the womb and she was filled with the Holy Spirit. She exclaims a blessing in a loud voice, to which Mary, also inspired by the Spirit, responds with a declaration sometimes known as ‘the Magnificat’ (verses 46 – 55). Verse 51 reads ‘he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts’ which means, literally, those who are proud in the thoughts of their hearts.

Scattering is seen as something God does to those who are proud. Do we have any example of this?

The first generations after the flood, instead of obeying God and filling the earth, stayed together and started building a tower of their own manufacture. God had said that if they remained united, there was little they could not do. God had to divide their language and scatter them around the world. The tower remained unfinished (Genesis 11:1 – 8). In fact, God considers the proud in heart his enemies.

It’s interesting that it’s inward pride that Mary spoke of. God sees through our outward show of humility to the pride and self reliance that lurks within. Too often the outward ‘Thy will be done’ contrasts with the inward ‘my will be done’. The danger is we trust in our own ability, our own works and righteousness, and our faith is in ourselves and not God. Perhaps this attitude is one root of disunity in our lives. Are our lives ‘scattered’ and disjointed, full of unfinished towers? Are our churches like that as well, full of ineffective troops?

Being proud is the opposite of Proverbs 3:5 - 6, ‘trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight.’

Let’s ask God to give us humility in the thoughts of our hearts, in that secret place – to trust in Him and not in our own strength – then we won’t be scattered but united and effective.

Prayer: Lord, please give me an undivided heart. Help me to acknowledge You in all my ways and to be humble in the thoughts of my heart, in the inward place where only You see. I choose not to lean on the bruised reed of my own abilities, but on the strong, comforting staff of God. Please make the twisting paths of my life straight. Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

No Compromise - Teaching CD by Jill Southern

Courage

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0100
1 Peter 1:16, NIV
Be holy, because I am holy.

I was once challenged by someone asking me these questions, ‘Do you believe in Jesus? Do you belong to Jesus? Do you behave like Jesus?’ The last question is a huge one for most of us. I would like to ask it this way, ‘How do we behave when no one’s looking?’

I consider a holy character is the world’s most pressing need. Think about it – if all 6 billion inhabitants of this earth had holy characters, there would be no wars, no hunger, no family break-ups, no crime and no poverty. Of course, that can’t happen until Jesus Christ returns and this whole earth is made new. If we’re hoping for a major move of God, either individually or corporately, then I believe we need to be working on having a holy character.

Our character is not just what we’ve done but who we are. Love is part of our character. Love is being tender-hearted but sometimes it’s being tough. Like Jesus we are to have a radical love for the broken, the hurting and the wounded. A most important chapter in the Bible for us to study is 1 Corinthians 13.

A holy character includes courage. My father, who was in Dunkirk in May 1940, told us of the huge acts of courage done by the allied soldiers who were being evacuated from the beaches of Dunkirk. The first boat my father was on was bombed and caught fire, but he went into the water to save a friend before getting to safety on another boat. He ended up back in Margate, very thankful for his deliverance. As I listened to such stories I can remember thinking, “When I grow up, I want to be a woman of courage!”

We make choices that show whether we’re courageous or cowardly. We can choose to do the right thing or the convenient thing. Do we stick to biblical principles or cave in for the sake of our carnal nature, our comfort, our greed, or other people’s approval of us? These choices come at us every day in rapid succession. Do we go with the flow or stop, and choose to be courageous when other people are not?

Things like owning up to the truth takes courage and how much courage is required today to stay sexually pure in a sex-crazed culture? What about when your non-Christian family or friends say that you’re terribly old-fashioned or even a little bit strange? Even to become a Christian takes courage. We have to own up to our sins before a holy God.

Today, take time out to consider your willingness to be courageous on a daily basis because courage is part of a holy character.

Prayer: I thank You, Jesus, that You had the courage to go through with the cross and set Your face steadfastly towards Jerusalem. Help me to stand with great courage in a difficult or hostile place and to behave like You, especially when no one is looking. Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

NETS Training School

Sex - God's Truth - Book by Jill Southern

Be Wiser Than Your Enemies!

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0100
Psalm 119:97-98, NIV
O how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long. Your commands make me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever with me.

Wisdom and knowledge are very different. Two different people could look at exactly the same sets of information and come to entirely different conclusions. The problem is this – our understanding varies according to both our perspective and our experience.

We may think we know what a familiar mountain looks like, but when we see that same mountain from a different direction it looks entirely different. It’s all a matter of what our perspective is. We may set out to climb the mountain a certain way, but discover it’s impossible to approach the summit from that direction. Whereas the man with experience of having climbed the mountain before, may set off in a direction that looks longer, but he will always get there first, because he has learned from experience.

The problem with life is that we can look at all the circumstances prevailing around us and be at a loss as to what is the right thing to do. Our knowledge is limited, our perspective is not perfect and we have limited experience. What we lack is the wisdom to know what to do. We may have the facts but we don’t have the understanding as to what to do with the facts!

But there is One who has all knowledge, and His perspective on events and circumstances is always just right. The Lord is not limited by the horizons of our own experience. On our journey through life we desperately need to be taking our instructions from Him. No wonder the Psalmist was able to say ‘your commands make me wiser than my enemies.’ When we hear and obey His voice we will always be on solid ground.

His wisdom is essential if we are going to make our way through this fallen world, in which the enemy of souls is constantly wanting to trip us up and take us off course. With His wisdom we will always be wiser than our enemies – as we acknowledge Him, He will make our paths straight and show us the way to go – every step of the way.

Prayer: Father God, I confess that many times I have depended on my own knowledge and experience and have not listened to your voice or taken note of what you have said in your Word. Help me, Lord, to look up to you for the wisdom that passes all human understanding so that I will be wiser than my enemies and experience your blessing on my path. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Forgiveness - The Master Key - Book by Peter Horrobin

Be prepared!

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0100
Matthew 25:10, NIV
But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.

Here in the UK we have experienced one the harshest winters of modern times with unprecedented snow falls and plummeting temperatures. Much of the country ground to a near halt as the local authorities struggled to keep the roads, airports and railways clear.

As you could have expected, here in the north of Scotland we received much more snow than in the south of England, and it stayed for longer. Yet it was the roads in England that caused the most trouble with the wintry weather.

Reflecting on why that’s so is simple: Scotland’s prepared! With a fleet of gritters and ploughs on 24 hour standby, local farmers equipped with plough attachments for their tractors, mini-tractors with ploughs and gritters for the pavements, and a well-trained team of workers, Scotland’s roads and pavements are kept relatively clear and safe.

Living here, we simply expect the snow. We know it’s going to come at some point and we’re well prepared for its arrival.

The parable about the virgins who were waiting for the bridegroom talks of being prepared for Jesus’ return. We’re not just to think His return is something that may happen, but we’ll deal with that when it comes. We’re to live our lives knowing that Jesus will return again and this time He will be returning for His Bride.

Can we honestly say that if Jesus came today we would be in a position to respond immediately? Would we be able to look at Jesus, face to face and say, “I come in total humility, clothed only in your righteousness, through the work of Your Cross”? Or would we need time to work through a sin issue, forgive someone or ask for forgiveness?

Let’s live our lives prepared for His return, for He is coming again and He’s looking for a pure and spotless Bride.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, let me not be complacent about Your second coming. Help me to live my life in such a way that I’ll be prepared for Your arrival, any time. Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Finishing Well - Teaching CD

This Moment with Jesus

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0100
Psalm 16:11, LB
You have let me experience the joys of life and the exquisite pleasures of your own eternal presence.

Like the mountain tops that reach far above the clouds into the clear sky there are those important times in our lives when we touch eternity. I call them ‘now’ moments.

So often I live for what I’m planning for the future or what provisions have to be made for my daily life. Other times I’m recalling past events or even, in my case, making films from previous video recordings. (When you get older you have more to recall.)

Therefore the present moments can be fleeting and go unnoticed, and yet, it’s these very moments that are precious to Jesus and should be precious to us.

God says, My Name is ‘I AM’, let us be ‘I am’ people, and just stop and be alive to Jesus for these moments, before we rush on to fulfil our plans. It can be a most joyful experience. It’s like spending time with someone you love, and afterwards you still feel a joy that continues until you meet with that person again. Although the Lord is always with us, these moments are ones of special intimacy.

In the UK we have something called the ‘Green Cross Code’. This is a safety rule for crossing the road. Basically it says, Stop, Look and Listen. It may serve to remind us to stop what we are doing, look up to God and listen to what He is saying. We can then go on safely, and joyfully. These moments are only limited by our busy lives. May we have many of these ‘Pinnacle’ moments where we touch Heaven ‘now’.

Moment by moment I’m kept in his love,

Moment by moment I’ve life from above –

Looking to Jesus ‘till glory doth shine,

Moment by moment, O Lord I am thine. D.W. Whittle

Prayer: Lord, thank You for those precious moments of intimacy, when Your Holy Spirit warms my heart with joy, like the sunshine on the mountain tops. Praise Your Name. Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

ShepherdLove Series - Books/CDs by Pam Smith

Carry Each Other’s Burdens

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0100
Galatians 6:2, NIV
Carry each other’s burdens and in this way you will fulfil the law of Christ.

With all the snow and ice we had recently in the UK, there have been many instances of people helping each other to do the practical things of every day life, such as collecting shopping and clearing footpaths. Cars slipping on the ice have provided many opportunities for able bodied individuals to help others by giving a push, (but also opportunities for those helpers to damage their backs if not careful!)

One night, when I was taking a young person from our team to the station, we encountered a train stuck on icy rails which needed another train to come along and give it a push in order to get it on its way. There’s no telling when help may be needed.

It reminded me of the verse in the Bible instructing us to ‘carry each other’s burdens’ (Galatians 6:2). To me this means that we should endure with, or walk with, someone in their problem. Much of the healing ministry involves walking with individuals as they take hold of Kingdom teaching and then receive healing from Jesus. Occasionally there may be a dramatic and instantaneous change in their life, but often we need to be patient and spend a lot of our time to come alongside them. Instead of the one-off input of muscle power which is needed to get a car on its way, we are to take the Jesus way of helping others which more often involves aiding a gradual process of restoration to wholeness.

So as we minister to people let’s not just pray for wisdom and discernment, but also for the patience to allow God to do His work. Carrying the burdens of others may not be a short term matter!

Prayer: Lord Jesus, since You walked on this earth You have been patiently bearing the burdens of Your people, carrying the load of our sin on the Cross and then continuing to help us by Your Spirit. Please give us the enduring love for those we seek to minister to so that we too can go on, supporting them into the place of healing and wholeness, even though it may take some time. Thank You for not giving up on us when things get difficult, Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

When Life Gets Tough - Teaching CD

Persecution

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0100
Matthew 5:10, ESV
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

I once heard a challenging question. If it was a crime to be a Christian believer would there be enough evidence to convict you? Do we keep such a low profile that no-one out there knows we are a Christian? Are there any truths we are willing to die for?

Jesus never kept it a secret that persecution would come to His followers. He said the world would hate them just as it hated Him. But He wanted them to know that standing up for Him would bring all the blessings of God upon them. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you (Matthew 5:10-12, ESV).

Jesus wants us to know that He’s with us through hard times when we suffer for the Gospel. He’s pleased with us and we can have a special joy that can’t be destroyed through circumstances. This is why I love to read testimonies of Christians who’ve gone through dreadful situations and found that Jesus was with them. They’ve proven the truth of being blessed at times like that. The apostle Paul knew about that as he was often ill treated and physically abused as a result of his evangelism ministry. But he regarded it as the greatest privilege to share in the sufferings of Jesus.

I heard Corrie Ten Boom, the Dutch evangelist, share that during her experience in a solitary prison cell she was so close to Jesus and enfolded in His love that she hoped that when she was free she wouldn’t lose that closeness.

In small ways I have sometimes known persecution in the form of disapproval, rejection, hostility, and lies which have come because of speaking up for Jesus. It’s not been a very heavy price to pay for all that Jesus gives to me. I know I still have much to learn of how to put approval of my Lord above the discomfort of man’s disapproval. I don’t know what lies ahead in the way of persecution but I understand I need to be prepared. I have this promise of Jesus to lean upon. It will be worth it. I will be blessed right where I am and my reward in heaven will be great.

Prayer: Thank You, Lord Jesus, for Your wonderful promise that we will inherit every blessing of the Kingdom of Heaven even though we have to go through the suffering of persecution. Help me to care more about pleasing you than getting the affirmation and praise of men and women. One day I want to hear those words, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant’. Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Life is for Living - Teaching CD

Our high calling

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0100
2 Thessalonians 2:14-15, NIV
He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.

As the Apostle Paul looks back, and thanks God for the way he’s observed the growth in faith and perseverance of the believers at Thessalonica in the face of persecutions and afflictions, he writes to encourage them further.

He reminds them that God will deal with those who’ve been oppressing them, and prays for them, that they’ll be able to stand firm to the end so that Jesus will be glorified in their lives.

But Paul also reminds them they mustn’t let themselves be quickly unsettled or alarmed by the things their opponents say, things that are untrue. They’re not to let any strange ideas or spirits they encounter disturb them, but they must steadfastly continue to grow in grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Whatever the nature of the opposition they encounter, Paul goes on to remind these Christians of their calling by God. It’s to share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because they know that Jesus is coming again and they’ll be gathered to Him, this glory can’t be taken away from them by the world.

In recent years Christians world-wide have been made aware that there’s a growing opposition toward their God-given principles, and Godly heritage. But, like the people Paul was writing to, we also are being encouraged to ‘stand firm, and hold on to’ those things that have been passed on to us. We’re encouraged to look upwards, because the One who has called us ‘to share in His glory’will come again to take us to be with Him for eternity.

The writer of Hebrews says; ‘Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God’ (Hebrews 12:2).

As we get closer to the return of Jesus and are likely to face difficult times and spiritual opposition, let’s follow the words of Jesus; ‘Stand up and lift your heads, because your redemption is drawing near’ (Luke 21:28).

El. Nathan wrote the hymn, which starts:

Jesus is coming! Sing the glad word!

Coming for those He redeemed by His blood,

coming to reign as the glorified Lord! Jesus is coming again!

Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, thank You for saving me and giving me a hope no one can take from me, that You’re coming again. In the meantime, please enable me to keep my eyes fixed on You, keep me faithful to You, and looking forward to Your return so that I shall be unashamed when I meet you, Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Slaying Goliaths - Teaching CD

Opportunities and Choices

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0100
Malachi 1:2-3, NIV
Yet I have loved Jacob, but Esau I have hated…

There are many opportunities that come to us in life (some of which are life transforming) which lead us down different roads, according to the decision we make at the time. Of course, most people know when they are choosing between what is good and what is bad, but we sometimes have to weigh between what is good and what is best, so that we are not robbed of God’s best.

If we are in the habit of asking the Lord to help us before we decide, we will always choose wisely. The most pivotal opportunity that comes to any of us is the moment when we are faced with choosing Jesus to be our Lord and Saviour, because at that moment we are choosing between life, if we choose Him and death if we don’t.

When Esau chose to despise his birthright, and Jacob chose to take it from him, the course of history was changed for a nation. For when Esau despised his birthright he ultimately despised God, and this cost him dearly, for the birthright was linked to the blessing, which also finally slipped from his grasp. For a plate of lentils, momentarily fulfilling his fleshly desire - Esau exchanged and forfeited God’s favour and was not able to reverse the situation even though he sought it “with a loud and bitter cry.” Jacob, on the other hand, realised the value of the birthright, and not only grabbed the opportunity to obtain it but, in doing so, subsequently gained the blessing that went with it (although he used deceit to get it). As a consequence in Malachi 1: 2-3 we read that the Lord says “I have loved Jacob, but Esau I have hated.” From that time onwards the Lord’s favour rested on Jacob for the rest of his life and on his descendants.

We therefore need to give serious thought to the opportunities that come our way in life – some can lead to great gain – others to great losses. Some – as in Esau’s case, are irreversible. We need to choose wisely, identifying God’s outstretched hand to bless us, while being careful not to take for granted what God has given us. God has entrusted us with the holy riches of Heaven, which we need to guard and treat with the utmost respect. Don’t let God-given opportunities pass you by!

Prayer: Dear Lord, please would You help us to make the right choices in life that are pleasing to You, and help us to have the wisdom to make the most of the opportunities that You give us. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Life's Decisions - Teaching CD

Has your well run dry?

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0100
John 4:13-14, NLT
Jesus replied, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.”

It’s hard to believe, but it even got cold in Florida this winter as temperatures dropped well below freezing. This was bad news for the 8000 acres of strawberry farms that are located around Plant City – the nearest town to Ellel USA – which has the title, ‘Winter Strawberry Capital of the World’! To protect this delicious fruit, local farmers stayed awake through the long cold nights, irrigating their fields so that the fruit would be insulated by the ice and not get frost damage. Well, when you combine this extra irrigation with being in the middle of the dry season, it meant that the water-table dropped by 35 feet in just 5 days! The result of this was that many residential wells (including our own) ran dry.

We made a call to the local water authority to report what had happened and they sent someone out to assess the situation. The bottom line was that the well in our backyard was not deep enough – we would need to go deeper. To have this work done was going to be a huge job and we would be waiting about 3 weeks without any water. Thankfully we live near the Ellel property, and we were able to go there to fill buckets and use the shower. Also, a few days into our water shortage, the County delivered 72 gallons of drinking water for us to use.

This alternative supply of water made me think about our ‘spiritual wells’. Do you ever feel you are running dry on the inside? Perhaps you don’t even notice your own well has run dry because you are so busy using alternative sources of ‘water’ to sustain you. Maybe you go to other people and draw from their ‘well’ or maybe you look for people to bring ‘water’ to you. The problem is that all of these other sources run out. It might seem great at first but it doesn’t last and then we need to find another source.

God’s heart is that we will allow Him to dig deeper in our hearts so that we can drink from His water – water that will never run out. He wants to be that source for us and to be our wellspring of life. Why don’t you ask Him today to be that source and allow Him to dig deeper in your life.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Living in the Promises - Teaching CD

Blessed are the Peacemakers

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0100
Matthew 5:9, ESV
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God.

What does the word ‘peace’ mean to you? In the Middle East it’s a customary greeting, whether in the Arabic or Hebrew language, ‘May peace be upon you’. It sounds like a prayer for blessing. ‘Hello’ or ‘good morning’ doesn’t seem half so significant. The Hebrew word ‘shalom’ has a richness of meaning and means everything that is good, health, prosperity, relaxation, laughter, good relationships, justice, harmony, fairness and righteousness. When we are at war we lose everything we enjoy, all beauty, creativity of the arts and music, sport, games, and we are overtaken by evil, suffering, pain and death. Jesus wants us to bring peace to others.

So how do we do it? I suppose it starts with valuing relationships. Every Sunday in the Communion service at church we have the little ceremony of greeting one another with the words ‘Peace be with you’. It’s just a smile and a friendly handshake or an embrace, but I find these gestures are important in making relationships work. They bring a sense of acceptance and belonging and community. When I lived in Tokyo and was surrounded by American friends I learned to ‘extend myself’ somewhat. British reserve often means people keep very much to themselves and are afraid of invading anyone else’s space. But the price we pay is often loneliness.

What do we do about conflict? It’s unavoidable so we might as well make up our minds what to do when it comes. Jesus wants us to restore relationships if possible. We need to pick our battles carefully. Some things are so trivial that they aren’t worth making a fuss about. We can forbear and refrain from comment and forgive. Other things need confronting or things will definitely go from bad to worse. Yet confronting can be done respectfully and kindly but with firmness. It takes a lot of effort but we will save everybody from future stress if we can successfully diffuse situations of conflict, pouring oil on troubled waters.

The blessing for peacemakers is that they shall be called the ‘sons of God’. This means we are full heirs to the riches of our Father, knowing security in relationship with Him and having all authority which is rightfully ours.

Prayer: Please help me, Father, to value peacemaking in Your Kingdom and to do it for Your sake. I want to inherit all that You have for me, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Life According to the Book - Teaching CD

Place of Mercy

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0100
Exodus 30:4, LB
Place the altar just outside the veil, near the place of mercy that is above the Ark containing the Ten Commandments. I will meet with you there.

In the Old Testament Tabernacle the mercy seat (the place of mercy) was inside the veil that separated the Holy of Holies from everything else. No-one was allowed access to it but the High Priest who was allowed in once a year behind the veil to make atonement for the sins of Israel’s people. But in the New Covenant, Jesus has entered within the ‘veil’ into Heaven itself, as High Priest, and will always be there to remind God that He has paid for our sins with His blood. Now we can enter right into the Holy place and obtain mercy and grace to help us in our times of need.

In the Salvation Army Citadel, they have a seat right across the front of the meeting place where you can go and kneel if God has called you to salvation, or to respond in answer to Gods’ call on your life. It’s a picture of the ‘mercy seat’ in heaven where anyone can come. God will meet with us there.

Jesus is as near as the whisper on your lips. As soon as we turn to Him, He’s there to forgive us and receive us, or to heal us. He has brought God’s mercy right down to earth. Unlike the case of the man who was executed in China for drug smuggling, where many pleaded for mercy but none was given, we will receive mercy, because we have Jesus to plead for us. At the cross, mercy and justice kissed each other. This means although we are all guilty of sin, we are able to be pardoned and walk free.

As Jesus said, ‘Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful’ (Luke 6:36) and ‘Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy’ (Matthew 5:7).

Prayer: Thank You, Lord, that Your goodness and mercy have followed me all the day of my life, and that I may live in the House of the Lord forever. May I be full of mercy towards those around me. Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

ShepherdLove Series - Books/CDs by Pam Smith

Bringing Joy to Others

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0100
Psalm 16:11, NKJV
You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Have you ever asked Father God for a touch of His joy in your heart? We may find that touch of joy in His creation or a piece of music which enables our spirit to soar. I experienced God’s joy through the simplicity of a good deed. A bulb had blown in one of my headlights and I was wondering whether I was safe driving in the teeming rain? So the car’s workshop was my destination on the way home.

The young man suggested I stay put in the car while he investigated – a new bulb was needed, but was not the answer, as a fuse was eroded with being wet and had to be changed. The problem went deeper, a piece of wiring needed replacing. When it was done I went inside to pay. The owner of the workshop said to me ‘Here’s your keys, nothing to pay. It’s your first Christmas present’. Wow! He must have known I was already wondering how much it would cost. Thanking him profusely he said ‘Just pass the word around - that we’re good – not the free bit’. As I left the workshop his mate said to him ‘What’s the matter, gone soft in the head?’ We all laughed and I made a quick exit in case he changed his mind!

Prayer: Father God, thank You for being a God full of kindness and love. Please bless that man You used to make my heart sing – it wasn’t the cost but the gesture. Show me how I can do something simple yet profound for someone else to bring Your joy into their day. Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Healing and the Love of God - Teaching CD

Have you been ruined yet?

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0100
Isaiah 6:5, NIV
‘Woe to me!’ I cried. ‘I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty’.

Like Isaiah have you been ruined, ruined for anything less than a major touch from God? In the Old Testament, a prophet was a person who had great intimacy with God in heaven which gave them the authority of God upon the earth. In Isaiah Chapter 6 we read about the vision Isaiah received of God and his calling as a prophet. At that time he felt unfit to be in God’s holy presence, but God graciously sent an angel to bring Isaiah assurance of forgiveness and cleansing.

Isaiah’s name means ‘Yahweh is salvation’ and Isaiah went on to prophesy very extensively about the coming Messiah, our Lord Jesus. The apostle John tells us this about Isaiah ‘he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him’ (John 12:41).

As I was preparing to speak on this sixth chapter of Isaiah, God touched me powerfully and asked me the question He asked Isaiah, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?’ I found myself replying in the same way as Isaiah did in verse 8, ‘Here I am! Send me’. And God said to me as He did to Isaiah, ‘Go’.

I’m conscious that those of us who teach about God need to know Him for ourselves in a personal way. God is pleased to commission us and to send us out. But those whom God sends are themselves sinners, and we could all ask the question, ‘who is sufficient for this’? I believe we shouldn’t just set ourselves up as preachers and teachers. We have to be commissioned like Isaiah. In Romans 10:15 the apostle Paul asks “how can they preach unless they are sent?” I would say we have to be ‘ruined’ for anything less than God Himself.

The writer of Hebrews mentions many characters from the Old Testament who suffered for their faith and says of some ‘they were sawn in two’, and Jewish tradition has it that Isaiah was martyred in this way by King Manasseh. When we respond to God and are commissioned to go, are we willing to pay the ultimate price if that’s required of us? This is an important question and we need to know the answer to it before the day when we’re required to make such a decision. Nowadays more Christians are being persecuted for their faith than at any previous time. I personally sensed God saying to me, “Are you willing to pay the ultimate price as many of the prophets did?” How could I answer this question? Only ‘Lord, the desire of my heart is to stand for you and to finish the race, and I look to You to strengthen me for whatever You have for me in the future.’

Prayer: Dear Lord God, would You come and touch our lips with the coals from Your altar so we know our guilt is taken away and our sin is atoned for. Would You help us to speak out Your life-changing words of truth and to say today, ‘Lord, here I am. Send me.’ Let this be so in our individual lives. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

NETS Training School

Dew From Heaven

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0100
Hosea 14:5-7, NIV
I will be like the dew to Israel; he will blossom like a lily. Like a cedar of Lebanon he will send down his roots; his young shoots will grow. His splendour will be like an olive tree, his fragrance like a cedar of Lebanon. Men will dwell again in his shade…

The Lord’s been talking to me about rain. I kept finding verses about how He sends water, rain or dew on the earth. I began to understand an important principle. Man is like a seed. He’s got the potential of life. But two things are required for the spark of life to begin. First of all the seed needs to be planted and hidden in the soil, and secondly it must have the rain. The seed thirsts for the rain.

The verses in Hosea speak of the importance of rain. Rain enables roots to grow and be strengthened so that they’re able to go down deep. With its roots, a young tree is able to draw in essential food, but also to have the stability it needs to survive. Each part of the tree is then able to grow and develop and bring forth its own special blossom.

After a period of time, the tree matures and shows forth all its finery. Its splendour and fragrance bear testimony to the good environment it has enjoyed. As the seasons come and go it blossoms and bears fruit. Its branches provide shelter to those in need.

Isn’t that a great picture of life? Every part of the tree is alive and well, fulfilling its purpose. The Bible says that the source of richness is the water supply –dew to be exact. A friend told me that it rarely rains in Israel. But there’s a counterpart to rain. Mist rises from the sea and settles over the mountains as dew, gently soaking into the earth. What a beautiful illustration of the work of the Holy Spirit in us!

So why is this water so vital for our lives?

The Bible is filled with references to water as the provision sent to us from heaven. Isaiah 45:8 describes justice as the rain of heaven, clearly sent by God. When it comes down, it produces the fruit of ‘salvation’ and a harvest of ‘righteousness’.

God has put the seed of life into every single one of us. But He patiently waits for us. Our part is to open up the ground of our hearts to Him, and crave for His water.

Prayer: Lord, You alone know the seed that You’ve put in me and the ground of my life. You know if it’s become dry, broken or even dead. Your eyes see what You’ve sown in me. Would You help me to open up to You, to realize that You alone make me come alive? Would You send Your rain so that I can flourish by the work of Your Spirit? Thank you Father!

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Copying Dad

info@seedsofthekingdom.com — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0100
Ephesians 5:1-2, NIV
Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

In our early years we learn the most by copying our parents. We watch what they do, take it into our mind, think about it and then we imitate them. Often it is a huge shock to parents to see just how closely their children have been watching and copying them – and it seems as though the children find it easier to copy the bad things than the good things! What Mum and Dad do becomes the example they will follow.

God intended that the way godly parents conduct themselves would teach their own children about godliness. But what He didn’t intend was that mankind would use their free will to rebel against God and thereby conduct themselves in ways that are far from godly, thus introducing their children to the rebellious ways of their parents.

Paul was well aware of the problem in the Ephesian church. There was a lot of very ungodly behaviour which he was drawing their attention to in his letter. Then he tells them that there is only one way to put things right – to forget the ungodly lessons they have learnt from ungodly parents and start imitating their heavenly Father – the only Father who will always give us a good and right example to follow.

But if we’ve never seen God, how is it possible for us to imitate Him? The answer simply lies in the character and nature of His Son. For Jesus is a perfect imitation of His Father. When we look at Him, we can know exactly what the Father is like. And if we take our standard of living from His example, as opposed to the defective examples that many of us have had to follow, then He will build in us, and then in our children, an image of love – that sacrificial love which Jesus had for all people and which is constantly drawing people to Him and then to the Father.

When we imitate Him, our lives will be a fragrant offering to Father God, which will bless Him and then be a blessing to all with whom we are in contact for the rest of our days. We all have a wonderful Dad we can copy – and it’s wonderful to have His Son as our Brother!

Prayer: Thank You, Jesus, for showing us just what Your Father is like, so that we will know what a wonderful Heavenly Dad we all have. Help me, Lord, to do what Paul says and imitate Him, so that our lives will be a fragrant love offering to God. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Ellel 365 - Online Training School

Forgiveness - The Master Key - Book by Peter Horrobin