Luke 5:15-16 NIV
15 Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. 16 But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.

Jesus was at a point in His ministry when He was on the A-list of preaching ministers. In today’s equivalent Jesus would be packing the stadiums with his ministry crusades. People followed him as word went out about the rabbi who gave you free food (feeding of the 4,000 and 5,000), free healing, free deliverance ministry and even free teaching…his podcasts and all His resources would have been made freely available to all who sought Him out. Imagine His series on the Beatitudes!

In Luke 5:16 we see a secret in Jesus’ ministry that sustained Him through the gruelling task of ministering to a nation of hungry people: “Jesus often withdrew to lonely places to pray”. There are 3 key things here:

1. The busier He became the more Jesus sought out LONELY PLACES.
In other word Jesus sought out places of quiet and solitude free from distraction, a place free from demands of life and ministry.
2. Jesus did this OFTEN.
The busier life became the more Jesus withdrew to the lonely places.
3. What did Jesus do in the lonely places? He PRAYED.
Prayer is the engine room for ministry empowerment and sanity! No minister (that’s every believe in Jesus) would be complete without a prayer lifestyle. Jesus didn’t just while away His time in laziness but pressed in to prayer. The harder ministry and life became the harder He prayed. Hebrews 5:7 “During the days of Jesus life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.” The disciples understood the power of Jesus’ prayer and asked Him to teach them how to pray (see Luke 11).

The more famous Jesus became, the busier life became. The busier life became, the more important prayer became. The antidote to a busy life is to take time out to pray.

Martin Luther once said,”I have so much business I cannot get on without spending three hours daily in prayer. Martin Luther

E.M. Bounds said, “The men who have done the most for God in this world have been early on their knees…If God is not first in our thoughts and efforts in the morning, He will be in the last place the remainder of the day.”

It seems almost callous of the son of God to neglect the people who needed Him and perhaps there were those who would criticize Jesus’ apparent neglect of the needy. Yet Jesus was demonstrating to us the importance of knowing your limitations. This is for those of you who struggle in your busyness to let go of the “important projects” that demand your personal attention: it CAN wait! There are other solutions.

Jesus understood there will always be need in this fallen world and, while His capacity to minister was great, it had limitations. If Jesus understood His limitations, how much more should we understand and work within our capacity? God gives you permission to rest!

In our quest not to neglectful others we can invariably neglect ourselves. If I’m no good to myself, I’m no good for ministry. Learn the balance. You can’t keep running the engine when the tanks are empty…

Luke 14:26-27 NIV
26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters–yes, even his own life–he cannot be my disciple. 27 And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

These are difficult words to process. Jesus is saying: unless there is a willingness to let go of that which is precious to us, that’s another way of saying “sacrifice”, we are not truly following Him. Because the very things we love and treasure greater than our love for Him will pull us away from Him. You either get tied to a string that pulls you toward Him or a string that pulls you towards something else–you can’t be pulled in more than one direction without sacrificing your limbs! Yet, in saying that, Jesus pointed out the way to have it all.

Matthew 6:33 NIV But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Unless you are willing to lay down your own life for him…that’s what the cross represented…you “cannot be His disciple”. That’s some hard words to digest and process!

Jesus isn’t literally saying give up everything, rather He’s driving home a point: to follow Jesus properly we must be prepared to give up that which is most precious to us! Here’s some key thoughts to draw from this passage:

1. THE HARDEST THING TO GIVE UP IS LIVING FOR SELF GLORY AND SELF GRATIFICATION.
Why is self glory and self gratification so bad? Well, aside from people seeing us as complete jerks, when we are chasing after our own pursuits we are no longer chasing after His pursuits. There are pursuits acceptable to man that are not acceptable to God. The self-pursuit of man is diametrically opposed to the pursuit of God. Chasing after non-God sanctioned pursuits just gets you tired. Chasing after His pursuits is easy because He wants you to succeed–it was His idea anyway and it’s in His own best interest to make it happen!

2. YOU CAN’T FOLLOW WITHOUT A CROSS.
A cross is a cross no matter which way you look at it. It’s difficult, it’s hard and it’s a place of death.

THE CROSS IS UNIQUE TO EACH PERSON. It’s a personalised cross: notice it says “his cross” as opposed to Jesus’ cross. You can’t carry His cross any more than you can carry anyone else’s cross; you can only carry the cross tailored for you. That cross knows your evil desires. It knows what tempts you, what you treasure, what you fear. You can deny that cross. You can pretend it doesn’t exist. You can try to create a custom made cross with velvet padding for added shoulder comfort and pine wood to make it extra light, manufacturing crosses God never designed for you. But if it’s not yours, you’re not really carrying the cross. The cross is not pretty. The cross is not a crowd pleaser or a crowd magnet. It is a personal journey, a personal choice, a personal sacrifice.

3. THE CROSS IS A PREREQUISITE FOR FOLLOWING JESUS.
“anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.”

No cross = no Jesus! No cross = no entry! You cannot identify with Jesus unless you become like Him. Resembling Him means: love what He loves, hate what He hates. The cross is the key to discipleship. Without the cross there is no forgiveness of sins. Without the cross there is no death to sin. Without the cross sin continues to master you.

4. THE BEGINNING OF DISCIPLESHIP IS DEATH TO SELF.
Until every trace of selfish gratification and desire is gone, you are in no position to be able to share with anyone else let alone give your life to Father God. Discipleship is a personal journey that no one can choose or decide for you but its returns are divine!

Now is a timely reminder to ask yourself the question: Am I carrying my cross today?

Of course I learned a bit while I was in hospital and, for those who don’t follow me on Twitter, he’s my Top 7 experiences learned in hospital:

Lessons LEARNED FROM HOSPITAL.

Number 1: In hospital, having no sense of smell is a good thing! No, REALLY!

Number 2: When using the shared toilet don’t pick up strange stuff–that measuring flask…don’t.

Number 3: Hospital gowns and dignity do NOT go together. Seriously the design CAN be improved!

Number 4: Sleep only exists in dreams. Btn snoring, body noises (u know!), tht patient who belts th “Hallelujah” chorus @ ALL day & night, those thin plastic curtains–hey folks we can hear you next door–nurses waking you up on the hour and then asking “Did you sleep well last night?”…

Number 5: There is always someone worse off than you. A reminder to treasure and appreciate what you have.

Number 6: “Oops” is NOT a good word to use in hospital.

Number 7: There’s always one nurse that can’t find your vein. “Does this hurt?” is an unnecessary question when your patient’s face says it all.

Exodus 17:4-5 NIV
4 Then Moses cried out to the Lord, “What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me. ”
5 The Lord answered Moses, “Walk on ahead of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go.

Moses was about to be stoned by the people of Israel. His leadership up to this point had been nothing short of inspirational with incredible signs and wonders attesting to His special calling from God. Yet people’s faith start to wane in the absence of the basic meccessities. “Fill my stomach and I’ll follow you” became the order of the day–the dinner order. The problem was real: what’s a nation of 1.2 million people to do when they’re stuck in the middle of a desert and there’s no water anywhere to be found? What do you do when the same people who cheered you one minute now want to kill you?

The bible tells us God instructed Moses to do 3 things:

1. Walk on and walk ahead of the people.
In other words change the variables in the situation. If the people can’t be changed, change the environment. If the environment can’t be changed, change yourself. Because nothing changes as long as things remain constant. Go deeper, go higher, go further. But don’t stay where you are.

When you change, the way you think changes. When you change, the way you perceive things changes. What was a problem in the past becomes an opportunity in the future because when you change, you look at things differently.

2. Walk with wise men of good counsel.
Moses was not instructed to walk among fools, complainers or bludgers. Moses was instructed to walk with mature men, men of integrity and character, who knew how to hear from God. A prerequisite for getting out of any problem is knowing how to hear from God.

Friends will influence you: they influence our thought patterns, choices we make, even how we dress and behave. Who you hang out with becomes who you are. Chose carefully who you walk with. Who you walk with determines your outcome.

3. Use what you’ve got in your hand.
God uses your skills, abilities and resources. He doesn’t appoint a professional to come in and fix things up; God works through you, the appointed leader. What makes a triumphal story great is not when people in trouble find an outside expert to fix it. That’s not a story, that’s predictable. Rather God’s glory is revealed when He can take the impossible situation and work through ordinary people to do extraordinary things.

The greatest stories are yet to be written. Behind every obstacle is an opportunity. Behind every challenge is a solution! Behind every struggling leader is a legend in the making.

If you’re a leader reading this today remember: go back and position yourself to hear from God. Your solution’s waiting for you!

Genesis 28:15 NIV
15 I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

Promises that take time to fulfill are often seen as a downgrade of the instant answer types. In truth, promises that take time to fulfill have the added benefit of drawing and retaining the presence of God. It’s the difference between a microwave meal and a proper home cooked meal. The wait is worth it!

God obligates Himself to you in order to see every promise fulfilled in your life. The greater the delay; the greater the presence. The more complicated and absurd the promise the more God is tied to the mission of seeing your promise fulfilled.

So to those wondering and waiting for their promises to be fulfilled: enjoy the journey! Through every wilderness God must see you through to the promised land.

Luke 1:18-20 NIV
18 Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years. ”
19 The angel answered, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. 20 And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their proper time. ”

Luke 1:34-35 NIV
34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin? ”
35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.

Same angel. Similar question: “How?!?”

One was supernaturally silenced for unbelief the other caused no grief to Gabriel.

Gabriel seemed offended by Zechariah’s unbelief yet he was able to accept Mary’s. What was different about them?

Zechariah was a priest who had been exposed to many years of professional ministry. He should have known better.

Mary was a teenager, untrained in the service of God.

One asked for proof; the other asked for process.

Our level of expectation must increase in line with our level of revelation. The more you are given; the more is required and expected of you.

Our journey with God is meant to be one of ever increasing revelation and ever increasing expectation. You cannot expect things of God when you have not created the need. Need arises on the field of harvest.

Ministry puts a demand on the anointing. No ministry places no demand. No demand results in no need. No need results in a safe, non-threatening, non-inspiring and boring life. It’s the kind of stuff dead churches are made from.

No ministry = disobedience and lack of love for God.

John 14:23-24 NIV
23 Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24 He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.

Genesis 1:2 NIV
2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

Interesting that even in the darkness God’s spirit is present, hovering with intensity of purpose. The purpose: to create. Out of nothing, a place without even a recognizable shape or form a place that is a vacuum of nothingness, or “void” as the KJV puts it, God was ready to do something new, something different, something that had never been done before.

The attention of the entire unseen realm was squarely focused on this one little planet to see what masterpiece the Creator was about to unveil to all that existed…the full attention of God was being centered on this one planet alone, such was the exquisite importance of it.

And how like God to take something that has been discarded and left abandoned and create something of such significance and worth. God knew the value of this planet before His spirit began to hover over it. God knows your value even if you don’t.

You may be thinking to yourself “I’m worthless!” You may have heard it said, “you’ll amount to nothing!” yet God saw what earth would become and He saw what you would become. He sees you in all the glory He is about to bestow on you.

1 Corinthians 2:9 NIV
9 However, as it is written:
“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him” –

If you’re struggling with feelings of self worth I encourage you to read the following out loud:

• I may not look like much now but wait till God finishes with me!
• Don’t judge me by my past. That’s not who I am anymore!
• Stay tuned cause I’m about to change!

God change me ever more into your image and likeness into the glorious person you created me to be.

Isaiah 42:9 NIV  See, the former things have taken place, and new things I declare; before they spring into being I announce them to you.”

So Christmas is just around the corner and final days of shopping for presents is nearing an end. For every one who vowed to buy presents early this year and not repeat last years frantic mad dash through the crowds of equally pressured shoppers: yes, I know…it feels like Groundhog Day and you’re stuck in the longest checkout line known to man. If that’s you, remember: there’s always next year to try again! For now, find time for a coffee and don’t forget to breathe. And when you finally come home, presents in hand like a conquering hero, the final thing we do is wrap the presents to get them ready for Christmas Day. I like the analogy that’s conjured up in my mind: the final thing we do is wrap up to prepare for the big event.

In much the same way Christmas is not a time for us to “wrap up” or end the year, sealing it so it can never be opened again. Rather, presents are wrapped so they can be given away and the recipient gladly receives the gift and opens it with joy and anticipation. Can I encourage you this year to wrap up your year and give it to God?

Usually we end the year with a rush to move into the new year burning with zeal for a list of New Year’s resolutions you intend to break. This year, consider celebrating the blessings and all the good things God has done in your life in 2010. Celebrate the good and farewell all that has held you back and embrace the new day God has prepared for you.Wrap up your thoughts: the triumphs and the heartaches, the joys and sorrows, the things we could have done better of relationships that could have been handled better and add to that thanks for another year of life.

Begin the year with thanksgiving and a grateful heart and get ready for all the great things God has in store for you in 2011! Shalom.

1 Kings 9:11-14 NLT
Solomon’s Agreement with Hiram
11 he gave twenty towns in the land of Galilee to King Hiram of Tyre.( Hiram had previously provided all the cedar and cypress timber and gold that Solomon had requested.) 12 But when Hiram came from Tyre to see the towns Solomon had given him, he was not at all pleased with them. 13 “What kind of towns are these, my brother? ” he asked. So Hiram called that area Cabul( which means “worthless”), as it is still known today. 14 Nevertheless, Hiram paid Solomon 9,000 pounds of gold.

When I’ve read this passage in the past it was always with a sense that Solomon was a cheapskate who cheated Hiram in their agreement. Jews have been accused of being cheap and scoundrels when it comes to money (don’t get too agro–my mum’s Jewish!). But a little perspective changes everything.

Is this not the same Solomon who made silver and gold as common as stones? Is this not the same Solomon that the queen of Sheba was compelled to visit because of reports of the greatness of his kingdom? And then she was amazed at even the little things in the kingdom such as the food that was served and the clothing the servants wore?

Hiram paid Solomon because he knew he was getting a good deal. A nation where gold and silver became as common as stones (2 Chronicle 1:15) in Jerusalem was the same wisdom used by this king to increase the wealth of the entire nation. i.e. Israel, in the time of Solomon became a nation where real estate properties was only available to millionaires. Whatever was common about Galilee in comparison to the other great cities Solomon built was still great in comparison to any other nation given the wealth of Israel in the time of Solomon. Hiram just needed to improve his real estate; he needed to improve what he got.

We read on that Solomon continued building up cities and “appreciating” them.

1 Kings 9:17-19 NLT
17 So Solomon rebuilt the city of Gezer.) He also built up the towns of Lower Beth- horon, 18 Baalath, and Tamar in the wilderness within his land. 19 He built towns as supply centers and constructed towns where his chariots and horses could be stationed. He built everything he desired in Jerusalem and Lebanon and throughout his entire realm.

Sometimes it seems we’ve been dealt a poor hand in the game of life. Perhaps the gene pool was on the shallow end in your life, perhaps your start in life was unfortunate and, through a series of bad decisions, you find yourself wanting, short of the blessings you’ve often heard preached about and have seen in your friend’s life.

Can I encourage you to appreciate what God has given you? “Appreciate” is a real estate term meaning to add value to. How are you appreciating your life? What steps are you taking to improve the value of it? Have you seriously pursued further training and development or discipleship or sought wisdom in getting out of financial or relational struggles?!? Are you focusing on what you don’t have rather than focus on what is readily available to you right now?

We can waste our lives away wishing and hoping for someone else’s blessed life. Don’t compare yourself to anyone else. Make today the first day of change. Begin to work on your property and appreciate it!

2 Samuel 22:26-27 NLT

26 “To the faithful you show yourself faithful; to those with integrity you show integrity. 27 To the pure you show yourself pure, but to the wicked you show yourself hostile.

I’ve heard it said “man fashions God in his own image” and, as blasphemous as it sounds, to some degree there’s a truth to it.

God reveals himself as a faithful God to a person who is faithful. God reveals himself as an integrous God to a person who lives integrity—what He says He will do. He reveals himself as pure to a pure person and to the wicked He reveals Himself as a hostile God. To the kind He reveals kindness.

To the humble He reveals Himself humble; to the proud He acts in direct opposition. It makes you stop and consider: What kind of person am I? How do others describe me?

Reversing this thought consider this: how would I like God to appear to me? Faithful? Kind? Generous? Loving? Merciful? That’s the kind of person I need to be!