Tuesday, 31 August 2010
Friday, 27 August 2010
Andy Elmes: Breakfast of Champions
Good morning, Champion. Delighting in His word will prosper you Psalm 1:1-3 (NIV) 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. This is a great Psalm that promises so much to the person who will commit to delight and meditate not in the wisdom of the ungodly but in the “law of God”. As we have established many times in this devotional we are no longer under the law but under grace, and positioned in Christ by our faith in His grace not our works – so how does this word or promise apply to us today? Two ways: we may no longer be under the law contained within the old testament as it was fulfilled by Jesus perfectly, but we should still daily remain under the teachings of its truth and wisdom, living to daily apply the incredible principles of God found within each of its pages. The Word (the Bible) will always do your life good and cause your life to flourish as you submit to it. Why? Because the Bible is a living book and is jammed full of God's thoughts and ways, and when you clearly understand the covenants (what’s relevant and what’s not to your life), and know how to apply the truth of His word to your life, it will always cause an outbreak of life and blessing in every part you expose it too. If we change the word law for word of God it holds the same power of promise for us today. Gods word is good for your life when you daily delight in it and mediate (think) on it – your life will consistently experience incredible blessing and flourishing and go from strength to strength. Another thing to consider is Jesus Himself. The Bible refers to Him as the “word of God made flesh”. John 1:14 (NIV) The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. Because Jesus is the Word of God made flesh it means that as we behold Him daily we are beholding the word of God. As we daily gaze upon Jesus, delight in Him and meditate (think and muse on all He has done for us) on Him we are actually delighting and mediating on the word of God as He instructed us to and, as promised, that will cause your life to flourish and prosper so you will be like that promised tree that is planted by the rivers, ever bearing fruit. Make sure you are delighting and meditating (thinking about) both the living words within the book and the living word that is the person – as you do you will be blessed! Andy
Thursday, 26 August 2010
Andy Elmes - Breakfast of Champions
Good morning, Champion. Credited to, not worked for Romans 4:3-5 (NIV)
What does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness." Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation. However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness. The very essence and power of grace is that it is always totally unmerited, undeserved and unearned. It is something freely given to the person who believes, not to the person who tries to earn it. The text today reminds us again that Abraham had righteousness (right standing with God) credited to him when he believed, not when he achieved. He did not work or labour for it but qualified himself for it by his faith (believing and trusting God). Champion, we also, as Abraham, are credited with the righteousness of God when we realise, as Abraham did, that none of our labour is good enough or ever enough to qualify us for it. Only when we choose rather to simply trust and rely in God’s grace (unmerited, unearned favour) and faithfulness does He credit to us all of the righteousness we could ever need.This can be difficult for some to grasp because we have been raised in a society and world that teaches a wage-based way of thinking: “when we work hard or do enough we then get what we desire or deserve”. This way of thinking puts the emphasis on our doing: we do and then we get. True grace really messes this system up and actually works in the complete reverse to it – that is why so many cannot grasp the simple beauty of grace. Abraham did nothing yet had everything he needed credited (given freely) to him by God. It was not a wage for something he had done but grace, something freely given by God. See the truth here: it was God giving him what he did not deserve and had not earned. His righteousness, as ours today through Christ, was not a wage given for a good job done or a life well lived!Be reminded today that the way we gain righteousness and partake daily in the grace of God is still the same – we should not try to earn or gain something from God according to a wage mindset; rather we should daily come and receive by faith alone from the good hand of God what we could have never earned or qualified ourselves for.Remember, the Bible says that we when we belong to Jesus we are the seed of Abraham and heirs of the same promise. His promise was that what he needed would be credited to him by his faith, not given to him as a wage for his labour.
Galatians 3:29
If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.God bless,Andy
Wednesday, 25 August 2010
Andy Elmes: Breakfast of Champions
Draw an accurate line in the middle
2 Timothy 2:15 (Amplified)
Study and be eager and do your utmost to present yourself to God approved (tested by trial), a workman who has no cause to be ashamed, correctly analyzing and accurately dividing [rightly handling and skillfully teaching] the Word of Truth.
Yesterday we looked at the importance of being someone who rightly divides the word of God – a person who knows the difference between the old covenant and the new covenant, who knows how to subtract that which is no longer relevant because of what Christ Jesus has achieved on their behalf.
To divide the word of God (truth) correctly you must have an accurate line in your understanding of the Word that allows you to perceive correctly when the old stopped and the new started. This line is, of course, the cross of Christ.
Everything changed when Jesus shed His blood, died and rose again! We do not throw our old testament away but we must determine to daily live by the revealed truths of the new testament. Don’t get me wrong: both Jesus and the plan of God for redeeming mankind are throughout the whole Bible. I have heard it put well this way: in the old, Jesus is concealed (there to be found if you are looking), He is present in so many types and shadows throughout every book of it; yet in the new He is revealed – revealed as the Saviour and Redeemer of the world and of your life. I regularly read both the old and the new testaments, yet I live and build my life in accordance to the realities of the new testament. I am no longer fashioning my walk with God according to a replaced, obsolete, old covenant based upon law, but a living and present one based on grace and a finished work.
The Old Testament can teach us so much, but the law of the covenant it represented could never, and can never, save us – in fact, in itself it continually pointed to the one who would, and did: Jesus.
Rightly divide the word of truth by accurately knowing where one covenant stopped and another begins, by knowing when things stopped being down to man's imperfect performance to Jesus’ perfect one – perfect enough to perfect all who have believed. Enjoy both parts of the Bible but know accurately in your heart which part saves you and leaves you complete. We present ourselves to God approved when we present ourselves to Him positioned in Christ, living out of all that He achieved for us by His death, burial and resurrection. Draw that important line and don’t rub it out. Then you will divide the word of truth correctly, getting from both sides what you were meant too.
Blessings,
Andy
Tuesday, 24 August 2010
Andy Elmes: Breakfast of Champions
Biblical Mathematics (division and subtraction)
2 Timothy 2:15 (NKJV)
Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
Here we see Paul calling God's people to diligence, to being people who are not ashamed when it comes to understanding and correctly interpreting the truth of His word – people who know how to divide it in the right way.
A major key for rightly dividing the word of God is reading it in context. Always take the time to understand the context of what was being spoken – for example, who was being spoken to and when? The most important part of this context is whether it was spoken before Jesus died (the perfect redeeming work of the cross) or after? You must always divide the word with the understanding that there really is an old and a new testament; more specifically, there is an old and a new covenant. This we can never afford to forget
There is an old and a new and we are called to live in accordance to, and find our identity in, the new and not the old. Fact: the old was replaced by the new; it was replaced by God, not man, because it was not good enough. That is why a place was sought by God for a second! The first was not able to make a man righteous (justified) because it was based on the performance of man. The second (new) covenant is able to make a man righteous (justified) because it is based solely on the perfect performance of Jesus. To walk in victory you need to rightly divide the old and the new covenants and subtract (take away, make obsolete) what is no longer relevant to your walk with God because of what Jesus has fulfilled and finalised on your behalf.
Think about it, if you are trying to live in two very different agreements you will never completely or effectively live in either. Everything changed when Jesus died – the old covenant based on us fulfilling the law daily was finalised and replaced, the new covenant establishing us as righteous (justified) because of what Jesus did on our behalf began. Let us not spend our lives trying to add up what will never make sense. Subtract from your walk with God what is no longer relevant to your life now that it is “in Christ”, and live wholehearted in what is relevant (the new). The fact is a person is saved and regenerated by placing their faith in the grace (unmerited favour) of God and that alone. By grace are we saved!
Divide the word correctly by subtracting what is not longer relevant to you because of what Jesus has done for you!
Andy
Monday, 23 August 2010
Mal Fletcher 2020Plus
NEWPORT’S leaders need to gear up for potentially dramatic social change over the next ten years, according to one of Britain’s most foremost social commentators. Mal Fletcher said creeping urbanisation, an ageing population and the future of technology present both challenges and opportunities for the city. He leads the 2020Plus think tank – which tracks social change and predicts the trends that leaders may encounter. They’re themes he’s due to explore when he speaks in Newport next month. Mr Fletcher said that regional cities across Europe are experiencing growth, with 50 per cent of people on the continent expected to live in urban centres by 2015. He said the ballooning population will lead to a greater demand for public services, energy supplies, as well as tensions between the need of land for housing and for agriculture. Indeed, the provision of power could become increasingly more localised, with communities driving efforts to generate own electricity rather than seeking it from the National Grid. Local authorities could become minor power firms, potentially through renewable energy, while recycling their own materials. The isolation of city life will also give people greater opportunities to work in the mental health sector – with demands for stress management and anxiety counselling. “One in four Britain’s already face irrational fears,” Mr Fletcher said. “A big part of that is because of urban isolation. As cities grow that need to connect and feelings of alienation are going to grow.” And with Newport being one of the UKs most 19 most severely unaffordable cities, urban planners will also need to work with architects and private developers to create creative attractive medium-density low-rise housing developments, he said, and not the high-rise urban sprawls of the past. High-technology industries such as biotech and nanotechnology will also present opportunities to Newport over the next few years. Mr Fletcher said ever changing technologies will put demands on local governments to become ever more tech savvy in fields like communication and social networking, potentially leaving them out of the loop within five to six years if they fail to do so, he said. Cities like Newport will also need to provide infrastructure for high-technology companies to bloom, providing attractive enclaves for companies to gather together and for professionals to live in. Meanwhile the population of cities in the developing world is getting older – and with that there will come growing tensions between the generations. People aged under-26, those he calls the Millennial generation, are going to be reluctant to carry the costs of the pensions of those in the baby boomer generations and those who are who are in their late 30s and 40s. To help reduce the tension between the ages, Mr Fletcher said cities will have the opportunity to start up organisations which give older people the opportunity to make a contribution to society. “It’s no longer going to be enough to get people in old folks homes and leave them there,” he said. Overall, however, he said cities cannot prosper and grow without a sense of confidence – and the rhetoric of the cities leaders needs to match its reality. Mr Fletcher explained: “Without that people will lose confidence. Once they stop trusting the system people will take an even more ‘for-themselves’ approach.” “A lot of thought has gone into these developments but we probably need even more joined up thinking over the next five to ten years.” What kind of city do you want Newport to be in 10 years time – and what are you going to do to set it in motion? That’s the question Mal Fletcher will be bringing to community and business leaders in Newport when to speaks at the King’s Centre next month. The futurologist will be holding a talk at the church on Thursday September 9 to discuss how the city can deal with the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead over the next decade. Then on Friday September 10 Mal Fletcher will be the guest speaker at Newport’s Night of Honour evening at the church, honouring the city’s local heroes. The morning talk takes place between 9.30am to 12pm, while in second event will take place from 7-9pm. For more information call: 01633 244453
Andy Elmes: Breakfast of Champions
Good morning, Champion
He backs up His Word
Hebrews 3:1 (NKJV)
Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus.
We have spoken a lot about our mouths and the words we choose to speak. My final thought is concerning your confession. When you make His words and promises your property and speak them out as your confession, powerful things will start to happen in and around you.
God has given us His Word to use, and when we allow it to dwell richly in our hearts and be found daily upon our lips, it is then that we begin to see the manifestation of His promises in our lives and situations. Why? Simple, He is faithful and backs up His Word! He will not back up our insecure soul-based statements. He will not back up words of doubt, unbelief and fear. He will not back up whining or pleading, but He will always respond to His Word richly implanted in the heart and spoken out with faith.
Be challenged today, Champion, to be ever placing His Word in your heart and on your lips. God watches over His Word to perform it and promises it will not return void but will accomplish what it was sent for. When we confess His Word concerning our salvation He is the High Priest of that confession and backs it up, saving us completely; but also when we speak His promises concerning other areas of our lives He is the High Priest of those confessions too, and will back them up also.
Here’s the timeless recipe of faith: don’t look at the size of the problem, but rather find God’s promise concerning it and begin to confess those promises over it. Don’t listen to or speak out the whimpers of your soul but let faith arise that Jesus remains the High Priest of the (God-inspired) words we speak, just as He promised. Find that “God-word”, Champion, that fits your situation and begin to confess that in faith and watch what happens.
Andy
Friday, 20 August 2010
Andy Elmes: Breakfast of Champions
Good morning, Champion
Use acceptable language
Psalm 19:14 (NKJV)
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer.
We have been looking at the mastering of the mouth this week, and yesterday we saw how our words have the potential to create things because we were made in the image of God. We also looked at how our tongues can create harvests and move mountains when we understand the power of the words we speak.
What a great verse this is: “let the words of my mouth be acceptable in your sight”. What sort of words do you think God finds acceptable? Do you think He is listening out for words of faith spoken out, and words of truth? Yes, both of these, but also, I believe He delights in the words we speak that bring life to our personal situations and especially to other people’s lives. When God hears us speaking words of life and hope to people I believe He likes that a lot.
It’s amazing the power our words can have on other people, isn’t it? Words of encouragement can repair low self-esteem in a life that has maybe been crushed by the harmful words of others. Words of faith, hope, and wisdom can bring a smile to the face of a person whose heart may be so heavy and confused.
Godly, well chosen, life-inspired words can build people up, give hope, bring joy, and strengthen the lives of those who hear. We may have all used our tongues to make people feel small in the past but that should not be happening now. Our words should make people feel bigger, better, and more hopeful than they were before they bumped into us.
Your challenge today, Champion, is to go find someone and encourage them with the words of your mouth, and don’t stop until their eyes light up and there mouth smiles back at you in response. Remember, God’s words made you live. Let your words cause life in someone else.
Bless you,
Andy
Thursday, 19 August 2010
Andy Elmes: Breakfast of Champions
Good morning, Champion.
Your words are creative seeds
Genesis 1:3-5 (NIV)
And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. God called the light "day," and the darkness He called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning — the first day.
In Genesis chapter 1, which some have titled The Book of Beginnings, we see God busy creating things. Throughout this chapter we see Him making things such as forming the sun and moon, establishing day and night, and dividing the land and sea. In fact, He makes everything we today know as the earth and life. Notice this, though - God does not lift a finger or move a foot, but rather He speaks things into being. He speaks, “let there be”, and things come into existence.
When you read on a little bit further in verse 21 He is speaking of the creation of man in His own image and likeness. Think about this, He created us in His image and likeness. I believe that in our design, just like in God’s, He gave us the potential to create without using our hands. It is vital that we understand this reality, that “our spoken words create things”.
We saw yesterday that according to Proverbs our words have the potential of life and death, so let’s think more about the life part this morning. Your words of life, spoken in faith, have the potential to create incredible things, both in life and in people. Every word we speak is like a fertile seed that can produce a harvest because God made our words to have creative potential to them. Think of it this way: your tongue is a seed dispenser, and daily when we speak we are sowing seeds that will produce a harvest. Again, I find this sobering that we get to choose the type of harvest we create by the words (seeds) we select to speak.
When we realise this truth great things can begin to happen in the situations we face and the people we are in contact with. Remember when Jesus taught the disciples concerning moving mountains? He said, “Speak to the mountain.” Are you speaking God’s life-filled promises into those mountain-like situations, Champion? If not, start again today. Get the promise or opinion of God for it and begin to speak it out with God-given authority.
Mark 11:23 (NIV)
I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him.
Bless you,
Andy
Wednesday, 18 August 2010
Andy Elmes: Breakfast of Champions
Good morning, Champion.
Are you speaking words that build or tear down?
Proverbs 18:20-21 (NIV)
From the fruit of his mouth a man's stomach is filled; with the harvest from his lips he is satisfied. The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.
Today let us again consider “the mouth”, specifically looking at what lives inside of it - the tongue. We saw yesterday that if it is left un-mastered (untamed) it has the potential to cause our lives to sail to places we really do not want to go. Today let us see what Proverbs has to say about it.
First of all it reveals that a man’s stomach (life) is filled by the fruit of his mouth and that the lips are what produce harvest in your life. Again, the question here is whether your words are producing a positive harvest or a negative one, and that choice is down to you. It’s all about how you choose to use your mouth.
Secondly, the Word of God warns us that the tongue has the power of life and death, and with it we can kill or cause life to spring up. Think about it today: your words have the power to build people up or destroy them. Your words can empower leaders, dreams, and visions or rip them down. I believe many of us may have used our mouth for demolition before knowing Jesus, but now we must use our “mastered mouths” to bring life and hope, and to build up, not tear down.
Lastly, the words we choose to speak over our own lives each day can bring life and death to our own situations.
What are you speaking or confessing daily over your life, Champion? Are you speaking words of life that build strong hope and future, or words of death and unbelief that tear down the godly promises in your life. The best words you can use are the ones that agree with God's words. Use your tongue to speak God’s words and promises over you, your family, and everybody else in your world. Make the decision today that your words will bring life and hope to all that hear them, including you!
Andy
Tuesday, 17 August 2010
Andy Elmes: Breakfast of Champions
Good morning, Champion
Master the mouth
James 3:3-6
When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark.
Here we see James comparing the mastering of our mouths to a couple of significant things. Firstly to a strong horse – he uses the analogy that, when you have the control of a horse's mouth, you have control of where they both can and can't go. Next, he uses the example of a great ship and its rudder, again making the point that when you have control of that small part called the rudder, you actually have control over the whole ship, and you hold the power to cause it to set sail where you so desire.
James is speaking strongly concerning the mouth and the need for it's mastering, reminding us that it has the potential to take us to places we don't want to go, as well as places we do. The mouth is such a small part of the body, yet has incredible power given to it. When I look back over my life I see that my tongue got me into a lot of trouble, but also brought me into a lot of good when I allowed God to control it.
It can be used positively or negatively, according to our choice. It has the power to disqualify as well as qualify. Remember the sad account of the children of Israel on the edge of the promised land and how they managed to talk themselves out of everything that God had promised that they could have – incredible things that were just footsteps away? Let us be ever cautious concerning where we allow our tongue to take us – it is such a small part of who we are physically but has the power to start a big lot of trouble!
Wow, think on that today, Champion – that little pink thing that lives in your mouth has the potential to take you to great places, but out of control has the power to ruin you and leave you where you never wanted to be.
Use it wisely, Champion – master the rudder of the mouth and you can master where you will arrive at next.
God bless,
Andy
Monday, 16 August 2010
Andy Elmes: Breakfast of Champions
Good morning, Champion
Are you expecting abundance from God, or just enough?
Do you know today, Champion, that your God is a God of abundance? And all of His plans and intentions toward you are always plans and intentions of abundance, not 'just enough'.
Here are some verses to think on today; they all reveal to us God’s abundant intentions towards us for different areas of our lives.
1. The measurement of His saving grace (unmerited favor)
Romans 5:17 (NKJV)
For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.
Notice that it is abundance, not 'just enough'. It’s when you understand this truth, and also that you have been made perfectly righteous through the perfect sacrifice of Jesus, that you will reign in life as promised!
2. His provision in our lives - again, notice it does not say 'just enough'!
2 Corinthians 9:8 (NKJV)
And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.
- All grace (not some)
- All sufficiency (not some)
- All things (not some)
3. The quality of new life He has for us in Christ
John 10:10 (NKJV)
The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly (in abundance).
4. The giving of His Spirit, to transform us into all we are called to be.
Titus 3:5-6 (NKJV)
Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior.
Good news - His ability matches His intentions. God is not just wanting to do abundantly for us in these areas of life and so many more, He is able too! He is the God who is able to and wants to do abundantly in your life, so start expecting abundance. Sadly, some of those damaging doctrines of religion made by men have left us all for too long expecting nothing or very little from God. It’s time to bring our thinking into alignment with His word and truth - God wants to do abundantly for you so make room in your life for it!
Ephesians 3:20 (NKJV)
Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.
Stop expecting a bit, Champion, and start thanking Him for abundance!
God Bless,
Andy
Friday, 13 August 2010
Breakfast of Champions: Andy Elmes
Acknowledge what has already been given!
Philemon 6 (NKJV)
That the sharing of your faith may become effective by the acknowledgment of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus.
This powerful little verse found in the book of Philemon reveals to us that the sharing (living out) of our faith is dramatically affected by the acknowledgment (taking time to acknowledge) of every good thing that is now present in you in Christ Jesus, as we daily consider and discover His divine potential and power already resident within the temple of our lives the realization of this is what will certainly make you think differently about the life you live and take you to a whole new level.
In fact it is the acknowledging of “every good thing” that God has put in you through Jesus that causes true effectiveness in every single part of who you are, what did we get placed in us through Christ? That’s a very good question and it would take a very long list to answer! Here are a few of the many things that we need to be so grateful for:
Abundance of Grace – Has come to us through Jesus
The gift of righteousness – Is ours because of Jesus
Forgiveness, Healing & divine health
Faith and Hope
New Life and freedom from condemnation
Restored innocence
Love, power and a sound mind
The list really could go on and on!
Oh that you may fully understand all that you have already received in and through Christ Jesus your Lord, start today to release and see manifested more of what he has already deposited in you, how ? You guessed it by faith! By acknowledging (coming into agreement with) what He has given as revealed in His word and by thanking him for these things by faith, faith is the divine phone call that activates whatever God gives and has already given.
Let’s stop begging him for more and take a moment to realize and acknowledge what we already have.
Have a fantastic weekend,
Andy
Thursday, 12 August 2010
Andy Elmes: Breakfast of Champions
If we want to function in faith correctly we need to add to Hebrews 11 to the thoughts of the apostle James, above. This actually makes a lot more sense when we read it from the NIV translation. James 2:14-20 (NIV) What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless. Faith is all about trusting God to create what is needed but, as the NIV says so well, faith should be accompanied by actions. We should always be found acting in accordance to what we say we believe. We need to be living it out. Walking the walk and not just talking the talk. When we say we believe in something the actions of our life should be in the direction of, or in harmony with, that said belief. If a man says he believes he will fall off of a cliff if he gets too close does he then jump around on the edge of it expecting nothing to happen? No, he would be a hypocrite, one who says he believes one thing then has unaccompanied actions. When God gives us a promise for us to place our faith in, there is normally always instruction that accompanies it. When we walk in what God says to do we release what He promises will happen. • God said to Noah to build an ark and He would save his family. Noah then built the ark according to God’s instructions. Would his household have been saved if he had sat upon the promise without accompanying actions (building the boat)? • Abraham was promised that the world would be blessed through his life when he left what he knew. Would anything have happened if he had waited in Haran for the promise to be delivered? No, it was his walking in what God had said that released what God had promised. So Champion, get the promise for your situation and then act or live in accordance to what you say you believe. Add that accompanying action. A great closing example would be to look at one of the classic promises of divine provision which is, “Give and it will be given to you – pressed down, shaken together”. 1. You can wait for the ‘given back to you, pressed down’ bit and have a long wait. 2. You can live out the accompanying action – which is to give – and then you will release the potential of the promise – which is God giving back to you, pressed down, shaken together. Add James 2 to Hebrews 11 and you will have a very exciting life! Andy
Wednesday, 11 August 2010
Andy Elmes - Breakfast of Champions
Good morning, you hero! Selfless faith will change the world. Hebrews 11:32–38 (The Message)
I could go on and on, but I've run out of time. There are so many more — Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, the prophets .... through acts of faith, they toppled kingdoms, made justice work, took the promises for themselves. They were protected from lions, fires, and sword thrusts, turned disadvantage to advantage, won battles, routed alien armies. Wow, faith is very powerful stuff! It was used to:• Topple kingdoms• Make justice work• Protect from incredible dangers• Route, or force out, foreign armiesIt is good for us all to grasp the fact that faith is about more than just you! God calls us to graduate out of the style of faith which is just about us to a level of faith life that is also all about others, stuff beyond us.Faith will change your life, but selfless faith will change the world.These men and women that we read about in Hebrews 11 changed things in the world by their faith; this really inspires me. We too can use our God-given faith to hold things back and release justice, to win battles for God's kingdom and force out “alien armies”. The key is to simply make the decision to live beyond yourself, to see that the purpose of true faith is not all about us and our comfort, but rather having an impact in the cities we live and the world that God loves.I don’t know about you but I do not want my spiritual obituary to read, "Andy was a man of faith who knew how to get a bigger house and a new car." Rather something bigger, maybe something like, "Andy was a man whose faith impacted the world by regularly toppling and forcing out the plans and schemes of the enemy (devil), and he could also stop lions mouths too!"Be inspired – let us use our faith for great and mighty things that affect the world beyond the boundaries of our own lives and comfort.Bless ya,Andy
Tuesday, 10 August 2010
Andy Elmes: Breakfast of Champions ....take some time to read this.
Good morning, Champion
Don’t absorb fear – release faith!
Genesis 26:1-3 (NKJV)
There was a famine in the land, besides the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines, in Gerar. Then the LORD appeared to him and said: “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land of which I shall tell you. Dwell in this land, and I will be with you and bless you; for to you and your descendants I give all these lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father.
We are living in a time when it seems there has never been worse news pouring out of every media outlet. Daily we hear of things like recession, credit crunch, global epidemics, and terrorism. We need to make sure that we are processing and handling correctly what the media is giving out so freely.
There is nothing wrong with getting information, but often it is much more than information that the media is trying to give out. Often, without even knowing it, they are releasing fear and breeding panic by their continual, sensational statements. If you don’t know God or have your faith in Him then yes, maybe you should panic; but if you’re trusting God then don’t worry! There have been tough times before. Even in the Bible we read of famines that came and went.
Isaac was in a place of double famine and God told him not to pack up and move away but to take His promise and sow into the place of apparent famine, during a time when others wouldn’t. He had a choice to either absorb the fear of the Philistine newsreaders and live in panic, or believe the Promise Maker and live with a different spirit in those troubled times?
Isaac’s Response to the Famine
Genesis 26:12-13 (NKJV)
Then Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold; and the LORD blessed him. The man began to prosper, and continued prospering until he became very prosperous.
God’s promises still work in tough times! Listen to the media to get information but make the decision that you are not going to absorb the fear they are dispensing daily. Instead, choose to release your faith to see God move for your good. Thank God for good news programs, and thank God that they are often wrong, especially concerning those who have placed their faith in God. I am believing, like Isaac, for my life and the church to prosper in a time of famine. How about you?
Challenge: Begin to speak back to your TV when you hear a statement spoken that could produce fear. Why not answer the newsreader and say something like, “That will not come near my life or family in Jesus name.” Release your faith. Don’t absorb the fear!
Have a great day,
Andy
Monday, 9 August 2010
Andy Elmes
Good morning, Champion, and welcome to a whole new week where anything can happen! Faith will turn a dead end into a highway. Hebrews 11:29 (NIV) By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned. Like a jukebox that gets stuck with a favourite record, I too am still stuck in Hebrews 11 and the more I read it the more inspired and fired up I am about placing faith in God. Let’s stay there a little longer together. When we choose to daily live by faith we give God the opportunity to make a way forward for us in the times when we may seem stuck, or where there is no possible way forward. Picture this: the children of Israel had left Egypt under the leadership of Moses, a man who certainly walked a faith walk with God. Their captors, the Egyptians, had changed their minds concerning the freedom they had recently given the Israelites and were coming hard behind them to bring them back into slavery. The Israelites came to the edge of a large body of water called the Red Sea. They could not go left or right, nor could they go back. It looked like they had hit a dead end with no options available. But then God responded to the faith of Moses and performed the impossible. Moses extended his rod over the ocean and the sea parted before them, giving them a brand new option and pathway to freedom. By faith – "believing God" – they passed through the centre of an ocean that was being parted in the middle by seemingly nothing, because there was no physical evidence as to what was holding the water apart. And when the last Israelite had stepped out and the last Egyptian had stepped in, the waters closed, liberating the children of God from their captors once and for all. As the classic song says, "God will make a way where there seems to be no way, He works in ways I cannot see, He will make a way for me." When you walk by faith He will make a way for you, too, and when you feel you have reached a crisis point or a seemingly dead end, extend the rod of your faith, placing it in the promises of God, and watch what happens. Faith creates a route that often no man could have imagined. Walk by faith and not by sight, Andy
Friday, 6 August 2010
Andy Elmes: Breakfast of Champions
Welcome to your Friday fry-up! Faith in God makes all things possible. Matthew 19:26 (NIV)
Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." We have been spending time in the legendary faith chapter of Hebrews 11, and reminding ourselves that our daily life is a faith walk, an adventure story in the making. When you make the decision to step out of the mere ceremony of Christianity and into a real time life experience of walking with the Lord you leave behind things that are branded impossible. Why? Because the focus of our faith is an eternal God that existed before anything else did and lives outside of the restrictions of such things as time and space. We so often judge everything we believe to be true or possible by a planet that we live on called Earth. He (God) holds universes in the span of His hand. When we choose to engage with God Almighty by faith, we step into a realm of life where anything can happen – and it probably will. Remember, we serve and belong to the same God who is in the Bible, who:• Parts the sea when His people need to get across.• Causes walls to fall when His people walk around them a few times.• Stops the sun so that His people can win the fight they are in.• Causes axe heads to float.• Turns water into wine to make the party better, not worse.• Raises people from the dead.These are a mere handful. Read the book and you will find a whole lot more!The guys and girls in Hebrews 11 saw God do incredible things because they engaged daily with Him by faith, and you know what? So can we.Hebrews 11:32-34 (NIV)
And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword.Remember, the God who did all that and more is our God. The trigger they had is the same one we now hold: FAITH!Only believe. All things are possible to those who believe!Andy
Wednesday, 4 August 2010
Andy Elmes - Breakfast of Champions
Morning, Champion – welcome to another new day where anything is possible for those who believe. Use your sixth sense Hebrews 11:1–3 (The Message)
The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It's our handle on what we can't see. The act of faith is what distinguished our ancestors, set them above the crowd. By faith, we see the world called into existence by God's word, what we see created by what we don't see. I love this translation because it underlines that this trust we have in God is the firm foundation that we build our lives upon, and what makes life worth living. Why? Because faith turns a boring normal life, limited by worldly restraints, into an eternal adventure that is freed from the limitations of that which is possible to the five senses alone. Faith is that sixth sense that causes you to live in an unlimited dimension of experience. Today you are living out your story of faith. It is a story that not only has a beginning and an end but also a middle bit, and the middle bit is presently being written. Remember, your journey with God started by faith.Galatians 2:16 (NKJV)
Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.It ends in faith. No one has seen heaven yet – we know in our hearts by revelation that when we die we go to be with Him. Why? Because He promised we would and we believed (released our faith).John 14:1–3 (NIV)
Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.So we start by faith and we end in faith but what about the middle bit, the bit we are now in? That’s the fun bit, because it is real time! The answer is, of course, "we daily walk by faith".2 Corinthians 5:7 (NKJV)
For we walk by faith, not by sight.You did not see Jesus die when you first believed Him to save you. You have not seen heaven (most of us, anyway!) yet you know it is there because you believe the promises of God about the start and the finish of your journey. In the same way, start to live the bit in the middle trusting His promises about your situations. His promises are true about your day-to-day life also.Andy
Tuesday, 3 August 2010
Andy Elmes - Breakfast of Champions
Good morning, Champion. Welcome to a brand new week. By faith! Hebrews 11:1-3 (NKJV)
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. What a great way to start this new week – the opening statement from the classic faith chapter, Hebrews 11. As Christians we should recognise that faith is an important, everyday non-negotiable part of our lives; we are called by God to be people of faith. By using faith, the elders (people who lived before us) obtained a great testimony (life story), and by daily choosing to walk this faith walk with God so shall we. Remember that it is faith that pleases God!Hebrews 11:6 (NKJV)
But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.Faith is simple. It is making the choice to believe and trust God and to believe that He is both willing and able to fulfill the promises He has made concerning our lives. God is not a liar! He has given us so many great and precious promises because He has the intention of honouring them. As with Abraham, we need to make the choice to engage with God and His promises. How? By faith – simply believing that He who promises is faithful.The Word says that by faith we can understand the mystery of creation and how the world was formed – and, let’s face it, to understand creation you have to make the choice to believe that it was formed according to how God says it was; simply believe He is telling you the truth. Faith is needed not only to understand our origins, but also to understand other seemingly impossible situations in your life. In those seemingly impossible situations you need to apply the same rule, which is to hear what God says about it and then choose to believe even when there is no visible evidence. Faith is the substance and the very evidence of the things God promises.Begin to release your faith again today and hunt out the promises in God’s Word that are fitting for the situation you are in, and even without the physical evidence make the decision to believe the promise of God. Make His promise all the evidence you need. You were saved by faith to live by faith, and it is faith that puts the zing back into Christianity. It delivers your walk with God from being a lifeless ceremony to being a fun-packed, ever-unfolding adventure where you look forward to the next day and the next mountain you are destined to conquer. How? BY FAITH!Have a great day and believe for something seemingly impossible!God bless,Andy
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