The response to my last blog post about the 2010 Constantly Seeking God Challenge has been amazing!   Wow!

To become part of the 2010 Constantly Seeking God Challenge, subscribe to this blog by clicking here.

And now some details about the challenge:

It starts the 1st of January 2010.

Most days I will send out a short Bible reflection (currently working through the book of James) and a portion of Scripture to read for that day.   I will from time to time provide a prayer focus and will offer special prayers and thoughts as God leads me.

The aim is that by the end of the year the whole Bible will be read and our relationship with God will be massively strengthened!

The real aim is to come into the presence of God, for when this happens, we get a God perspective on life.  We see the world as God wants us to; what before angered us about someone close, now will drive us to love them, a sin we kept alive will suddenly with the God perspective, be dealt with.  Coming into God’s presence is to see our world as God intends us to see it.

John 15:5 talks about me being a branch, and God is the vine.. and when I am deeply connected, constantly focused on God then, and only then will my life produce much fruit. And fruit in the greek means benefits and rewards, so as I come into God’s presence, as I am deeply connected, then I will see amazing rewards and benefits flow in my life.  I see this now and have done for a while!  And yet I know God wants to give me even more.  One clear example is my pages on Facebook and this blog.. where in being focused on God, in being deeply connected, the pages membership and subcribers to this blog have grown astronomically.  This is all about God acting in my life.. not about something I have done, but something God is doing as I have become deeply connected.

So the 2010 Constantly Seeking God Challenge is about more of this, more of God rewarding me in a way that He is glorified.

And starting January 1st, 2010 this will involve: Constant Bible reading, constant prayer, constant confession of sins:  constantly seeking God.

Spending a minimum of an hour every day immersed in the Bible.  Reading a passage, praying and carefully thinking about what the passage means personally.   It also involves committing to pray throughout the day, to be ready to pray often.  And finally it involves coming before God daily and confessing sin.

Bring on the 1st of January!!

God bless,

Rev Mark

To become part of the 2010 Constantly Seeking God Challenge, subscribe to this blog by clicking here.

PS If you want to leave a comment click on ‘Comments’ below and scroll down.

Colossians 2:6-7: As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.

On the 20th of September 2009 I posted my first Journey Deeper into God’s Word which was on Galatians 5:24-25.  Nearly everyday since God has taken me on the a stunning journey.  I have found myself nothing short of amazed by what God has taught me, deeply challenged to face my weaknesses and try harder – all towards seeking to truly come into the presence of God.

And in 2010 I want to build on my learning so far!!  As Colossians 2:6-7 says, I want to be ‘rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith’ which is about building on what I already have learnt and strengthening my faith. When you look at the greek behind the three words, rooted, built and stablished, a common theme emerges: being constant.  Wow! This stands out.  My faith in Christ needs to be constantly strong, and I need to be constantly focused on God.

My journey deeper into the Bible came from God giving me a word: prepare.  To prepare for the next stage in my life.  This sense of needing to prepare remains, but now as well as this God is calling me to be constant.

I am exercising a lot at the moment; most weeks see me exercising at least 4 times a week.  Over the past number of months I have really got into a good habit, a good routine and this has been amazing for my health!  The key to this renewed health is my care of myself is constant.  Aside from the few times I have been sick, I have maintained my focus on working out.  My faith needs the same constant determination. I can see that I need to remain constant with my walk with Jesus, never wavering, always focused, determined on serving Him.

2010 is the year of being constant!

Constant Bible reading, constant prayer, constant confession of sins:  constantly seeking God.

And I want to invite you to join me on the 2010 Constantly Seeking God Challenge.

This involves spending a minimum of an hour every day immersed in the Bible.  Reading a passage, praying and carefully thinking about what the passage means personally.   It also involves committing to pray throughout the day, to turn to prayer often.  And finally it involves coming before God daily and confessing sin.

So do you want to join me in building up our faith?  I invite you to take on the 2010 Constantly Seeking God Challenge.

To become part of this challenge subscribe to this blog by clicking here.  And let me know you will be part of the challenge by leaving a comment below!

At the beginning of each week I will post my Bible readings for the coming week which you can follow, I will offer advice on how to pray, how to read your Bible and how to face your sin so as to grow in the Lord!!

God bless,

Rev Mark

To subscribe to my blog to receive my reflection for free as an email click here: Subscribe to Journey Deeper Into God’s Word by Email

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Matthew 1:18-25 : Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.

As I look out across society I am saddened by how commercial Christmas has become.  Christmas isn’t about bargains but a birth, it isn’t about gifts but the gift – the gift of our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ who was born so that I might have eternal life!

And what stands out for me in this passage is the role of the angel of the Lord.  The angel, literally meaning God’s messenger, who intervenes into the everyday life of Mary and Joseph and offers a direct message from God.. wow!  This event, this birth of Jesus that we remember at Christmas is no normal everyday event, this is God acting in our midst.

My wife Louise and I have just made friends with someone new to our neighbourhood who is what I like to call a pre-Christian (rather than non-Christian!), this past weekend her best friend (also pre-Christian) was walking across the road and was hit by a drunken driver.  She survived, but had both legs broken, and a range of other quite serious injuries.  She was also pregnant and sadly lost her baby.  Shocked by our new friends news we began praying for her.  Yesterday our friend shared the most amazing story, she described how while lying in bed, coping with the extreme pain of her multiple injuries, she felt a ‘peaceful comforting presence’, when sharing this with our new friend, she replied, ‘Well yes I am here to support you.’  ‘No’ responded the badly injured friend, ‘this is something else I have never experienced, something bigger.’  Our new friend then told her how Louise and I were Christians and had been praying for her!   The injured friend was amazed.

I believe that that presence she felt in the room with her was an angel of the Lord.  I encourage you to pray for her healing, both physically and emotionally. And please pray that she and our mutual friend might come to know Jesus Christ personally.

And this is what Christmas is about, Christmas is about remembering the moment our saviour Jesus Christ came to earth, why?  So that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

So I will enjoy the gifts on Christmas day, but the gift that will be my focus, and that Louise and I will communicate to our children and friends, is the wonderful gift of eternal life.

Praise God for His Son, Jesus Christ!!

God bless,

Rev Mark

http://www.facebook.com/MarkBrown.page

To subscribe to my blog to receive my reflection for free as an email click here: Subscribe to Journey Deeper Into God’s Word by Email

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James 1:22-25 :  But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

Wow.  The word doer is amazing, the greek for doer is poietes which means to write a song or poem, to be a performer!  This is where we get the words poet and poetry.  So when James encourages me to be a doer of the word this is saying I am to read and soak up the Word as my friend Jennifer says, ‘like a sponge’.  But I am also to share it with as many people as possible like a performer.  A friend of mine, Anna Weatherup is an amazing Christian singer/songwriter who I am sure spends heaps of time practicing, praying, writing, thinking about the lyrics, and melodies of her songs ready for her performances; and in the same way as a doer of the Word I need to read the Word, and then think about how I can apply it not just to my life, but how I can share it with others so that I might encourage others in their walk with God.  The Bible is not a secret to be kept but something to be proclaimed – shared widely!!

Then James talks about the man looking in the mirror, and how we are called to look into the perfect law and to persevere.  Though the word look is used as the action in relation to both the mirror and the perfect law, they are actually two different greek words.  With the man looking in the mirror, it is more of looking, but not too carefully, easy to forget as James says, but with looking into the perfect law (the Bible), that is a careful look, really taking the time, being thoughtful and intentional so as to not forget!  And I am encouraged to continue to take my time with the Bible, to carefully look into what the Word has to reveal.

Giving the Word time to act, and then acting on the Word given!

Praise God!!

God bless,

Rev Mark

http://www.facebook.com/MarkBrown.page

To subscribe to my blog to receive my reflection for free as an email click here: Subscribe to Journey Deeper Into God’s Word by Email

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To check out one of Anna Weatherup’s songs click here. 

James 1:19-21: Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

Just a few moment ago I was about to open my Bible to read James 1:19-21 and was distracted by yelling from outside my window.  I glanced outside to see two men screaming at each other, and then one of the men punched the other guy in the head. And that was it, after some more yelling, they parted and a little shaken, I turned my attention to my Bible curious as to what the reading would be.  And then I read, ‘let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.’ So often what is happening in my own life is reflected in what I am reading in the Word!  My first response to this reading was that I am not an angry kind of person so how does this relate to me?  And witnessing the argument outside my window seemed to confirm that, ‘I would never hit someone’, I thought.  And then God brought to mind a meeting I was at recently where I found myself getting very angry by what people were saying.  Thankfully I was smart enough to keep my mouth shut in the meeting, but afterwards I was slamming doors and getting seriously worked up.  I drove home my mind full of thoughts of retribution, thoughts of how I would react, all out of anger and all absolutely ridiculous.

The next day I was still angry, still ready for a battle and then everything changed in a moment.  In the midst of my anger I found myself talking to God, asking why this had happened, and God gave me this amazing peace -

TRUST ME.

Wow.  Trust God.  What ever happens I need to trust God.  A smile entered my world, the anger draining away.  And then I learnt more about the meeting that had got me all pent up and discovered that there was more going on than I realised and actually I really didn’t need to be angry at all.  And this reminds me that I have a long way to go in my faith.  I seek the meekness that comes from having the word implanted in me as the James reading states.  Meekness is being quick to forgive, gentle, prepared to let go of that which would make me angry.  I want to be able to forgive instantly, to be gentle and loving in who I am, not how I am.  So I don’t want to act gentle and forgiving, I want to be gentle and forgiving.  And this can only come from having the Word of God implanted in me.  And this is why I spend so much time immersed in the Word, to graft this mighty Word into my soul; that it becomes part of me.

I seek you Lord, I trust in you.  Praise God!

God bless,

Rev Mark

http://www.facebook.com/MarkBrown.page

To subscribe to my blog to receive my reflection for free as an email click here: Subscribe to Journey Deeper Into God’s Word by Email

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James 1:18: Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

Things appear slowly, but they appear.  My old style of reading the Bible was rapid, get in read, get out!  Now I spend time, I explore, I read commentaries, check out the greek and Hebrew, pause, listen, pray.. come Holy Spirit come.   I immerse myself in the Word and things appear that didn’t appear when I rushed God.  I give God lots more time and lots more attention and the results seriously blow me away!

Spending time with James 1:18 revealed to me that God created me, begat is to literally be born, to be brought into being.  Now I already knew that God is the mighty Creator, but what struck me about this passage is that God created me for a purpose. I am no accident; I have a clear purpose in life – YES!

And I realise that my goal in life is to become all that God intends me to be, to be the firstfruits of his creatures, which talks of being special and unique in God’s eyes.  When I look at me I see lots of problems!  I have plenty of insecurities, like when I preach, I may seem confident, but the number one question in my head leading up to me speaking, (and sometimes while I am speaking) is: will this be an amazing message? (For an example click here ) But I realise that this is the wrong question as I am way too focused on what people think.  Sure that is important, but what is more important is: what does God want me to say?

So in seeking to become all that God wants me to be I need to:

• Spend more time praying and thinking about God’s will for my life.  What I also find helpful is asking people who know me well what they think my gifts are;

• Remain focused on God, seeking to be in His presence and constantly seeking the God perspective (What Would God Think? WWGT)

How wonderful it is to do God’s will, to live as God wants me to live!!  Wow!

God bless,

Rev Mark

http://www.facebook.com/MarkBrown.page

To subscribe to my blog to receive my reflection for free as an email click here: Subscribe to Journey Deeper Into God’s Word by Email

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James 1:16-17 Do not err, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

Occasionally my pineal gland gets a bit stubborn and decides not to release Melatonin.  Melatonin is the hormone that is released into my blood stream around 9pm and causes me to be drowsy, assisting me in falling asleep.  And last night for some reason the Melatonin decided to remain in my pineal gland.  So there I am laying awake, mind racing, thinking about my life and the world around me.  I get up, I eat, I politely ask my pineal gland to get on and release the good stuff.. nothing.  Is there some sort of national pineal gland strike on?  Better pay and conditions?  What’s going on?  I start to get a little upset, I like sleep, I need sleep, I have a massively busy day the next day, up at 5am and I suspect sleep might help.  And then I realise, why not pray?  This pineal gland strike gives me an excellent opportunity to have a good chat to God.

So I start this conversation, and almost immediately I am struck by how amazing my life is, how wonderful God’s provision is.  I have stress and troubles, challenges and issues, I certainly don’t have a life without trials, but to use the wording from James 1:16-17, life is full of good and perfect gifts from above.  And the phrase, Father of lights is beautiful as it describes wonderfully that God is not only the God of the universe (the celestial lights in the night sky) but it also refers to the radiance that comes when in God’s presence.  Being in the presence of God is an experience of being bathed in light, a light that banishes darkness, a light that reassures and comforts, like a bright light banishing a creepy dark night.  So as I lay wide awake in the darkness I realised how absolutely awesome God is, that whatever challenge I have, with God’s help and intervention, I can overcome it.  And then I fell asleep…

I woke in top gear… and what a day it has been today!!  A wonderful glorious day where an anticipated stressful situation completely evaporated before my eyes in literally minutes.. wow!  God is with me!  God is present!!

I would love to hear:  where is God working in your life?

God bless,

Rev Mark

http://www.facebook.com/MarkBrown.page

To subscribe to my blog to receive my reflection for free as an email click here: Subscribe to Journey Deeper Into God’s Word by Email

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James 1:13-15 : Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

Yesterday I published a post about how to deal with addictions including internet pornography addiction, and the response has been interesting.  The post set a record in terms of the number of visitors to my blog in one day, and the number and nature of the comments and messages I have received have been very moving.  It would be fair to say, that based on this response there are lots of Christians (male and female) battling with an addiction.

I was also alerted to some amazing resources, organisations and websites that can help someone out with an addiction.  Many of these are listed in the comments which can be read at:  click here.

Though I don’t have a pornography addiction, my addiction is the internet, specifically Facebook.  I simply spend way too much time on Facebook.  In part it is a product of the pages I have started, the friendships I have made, but I can see it is affecting my family life, my relaxation time and so on.  So recently I put in place some self imposed guidelines to attempt to reduce the amount of time I spend online.  Within every addiction is a series of temptations, and the amazing James 1: 13-15 has some very interesting ideas about temptation.

The first realisation is that temptation is my problem, I choose to be tempted, no one is forcing me.  The greek behind the word temptation can also mean to attempt, test or try, so in being tempted I act, I test, I try something.  It is my choice alone to be on Facebook when I should be asleep!

And this aspect of choice is actually key, I can choose not to engage in the behaviour, and though I might be tempted, I can choose not to follow through.  The temptation is present, but I choose not to act.  For it isn’t the presence of temptation that causes sin, it is my choice to give in to the temptation that causes sin.

So my prayer is that those who are struggling with addiction make wise choices, excellent choices, so as to loosen the bonds of addiction.  Me included.

God bless,

Rev Mark

http://www.facebook.com/MarkBrown.page

To subscribe to my blog to receive my reflection for free as an email click here: Subscribe to Journey Deeper Into God’s Word by Email

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I received a very moving message from a young Christian who shared with me their addiction to internet pornography.  They stated,

I am scared and worried about my future. I believe i will have this fight til i die. I dont want it to ruin my relationships, my career, my marriage, my job and my future. I can’t stop it. It’s extremely hard.

I thought I would share my response as I am aware there are many who struggle with an addiction and my advice might help others.

1) Matthew 5:30 reads, ‘And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.’

What are the conditions or environment when you engage in the internet porn? Late at night? While you are drinking? You need to remove the conditions and avoid the environment completely. So if you usually engage in the practice after say 8pm in your bedroom, then either move your computer into a public area (so where others are) or just don’t turn the computer on after 8pm. So you avoid the conditions and environment completely.

2) Psalm 1:1-3 reads: ‘Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.’

You need to go deep into the Lord, immersing yourself in His Word, praying often. You need to come into the presence of God. And the more this happens, the harder it will be to engage in internet porn. Imagine, you are sitting at your computer, your mind starting to fill with lust and desire, and suddently the Bible passage you were meditating on an hour before comes to mind, and you remember that God is with you right now. So not so much what would Jesus do, but ‘Where is God Now?’ (WIGN) Where is God now? God is with you, present with you as you sit at the computer.

And come before God often and receive the forgiveness of your sins that God offers!  You can be washed clean!!

But please don’t try and battle it alone: share your struggle with your pastor or someone mature who you trust.  You need God and those around you to get through an addiction.

I am passionate about supporting you in this, to encourage you deeper into God’s Word, more prayer and facing your sin!  To receive my encouragement, subscribe to this blog where you will receive most days a short reflection for free..  To subscribe: CLICK HERE.

Lord I pray in earnest for those who are struggling with an addiction today.  Be with them, guide them, give them a clear, strong sense of your presence Lord.  Amen.

God bless,

Mark

http://www.facebook.com/MarkBrown.page
http://twitter.com/RevMarkB

PS Check out the amazing resources shared in the comments section below..

James 1:12 : Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.

Many years ago a well known Christian leader I had some dealings with was caught out having an affair.  He had been seeing another woman in secret for more than 4 years. It really rocked me and the other Christian men in my network.  We asked questions of each other, how could this happen?  How could he allow himself to get into this situation?  Why didn’t his faith challenge him to stop?  And then a young pastor friend of mine said to me, ‘Mark this could happen to you or I, we need to be vigilant.’  I have never forgotten this.  Temptation is ever present in my life, this is part of life, and not being tempted is unrealistic.  But I am no victim drawn towards sin without little choice!  There are some precautions, some things I can do to avoid sin that are outlined in this amazing James 1:12 reading.

The first is to love God, which in the greek is agapao, meaning to be devoted.  So I counter temptation and sin by spending a huge amount of time thinking about God.  Reading His Word, in prayer, chatting with others: making God a major focus in my life.

The second lesson from James 1:12 is the importance of enduring.  Just keep going, stay on the path, being determined not to give up, even when other have departed.  Stand firm!

The third help I find in James 1:12 to reduce the affect of temptation, is to desire the crown of life.  The crown is a reward given by a king, and that king is God, and the reward ceremony will be in heaven!  This is something I really need to work on, desiring my reward in heaven.

And the final help is to yearn to be blessed.  Blessed refers to God’s favour, of God working through my life in amazing and wonderful ways -  oh I want that!

So how do I reduce the affects of temptation in my life?  I seek to be devoted to God, to endure through the hardships, to desire after a reward in heaven and to yearn to be blessed.  Praise God!!

God bless,

Rev Mark

http://www.facebook.com/MarkBrown.page

To subscribe to my blog to receive my reflection for free as an email click here: Subscribe to Journey Deeper Into God’s Word by Email

PS If you want to leave a comment click on ‘Comments’ below and scroll down.

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