Category: Sue’s Views

Sue’s Views

I don’t know about you ….. but I forget things very easily these days! Maybe it’s because life is so full and our minds are operating on overload most of the time. I don’t want to think it’s because I’m getting older ….. but that too! One thing I’ve found valuable is to keep a journal. Some days I simply write down what I did that day. Other days I take more time to process my thoughts and feelings. One thing God told the Israelites over and over was ‘Don’t forget!’ When you go into the Promised Land and possess houses you didn’t build ….. crops you didn’t plant ….. livestock and riches you didn’t earn ….. don’t forget that everything you have comes from God. When I look back at my journals throughout the years ….. I’m reminded of the many challenges God has brought me and my family through. The many blessings He has loaded us with daily. The lessons learned ….. the growth that has taken place. It all ends up with thanksgiving! If life is tough right now ….. take a moment to remember the One who has brought you through ….. and will continue to do so.

Sue’s Views

God has new territory for us to possess. It may be spiritual territory ….. emotional ….. mental ….. or material ….. but it is most likely occupied at the moment. Opposing forces don’t want you to have it. In order to possess something ….. we first have to dispossess it! Israel didn’t just wander into the Promised Land and take over. They discovered it was occupied by enemies of God and they weren’t going to hand it over easily. God had promised them that they would win the battle ….. but they still had to fight! When we fight in God’s army ….. we are assured of victory. So ….. ‘Be strong and of good courage ….. for the battle belongs to the Lord!’

Sue’s Views

Board games really bring out the true character of a person! There’s the competitive ….. ‘must win at all costs’ type! Then there’s the strategic ….. ‘takes their time before making a move’ type. The aim of the game is to get home! The Israelites journey was something like a board game. They started out well ….. but then they would find themselves back where they started! They won some battles ….. but lost some as well. They had to learn to trust God and not rely on their own strategies. Their goal was to get to the Promised Land which was to be their new Home!

Sue’s Views

We had the privilege of hearing a Word from our founding Pastor David yesterday. One thing I love about our church is that our leadership has been generational. What I mean by that is that each senior Pastor has trained and then handed the baton onto the next senior Pastor ….. who in turn did the same. There has been an incredible flow of leadership which has produced security in the people. A huge part of Moses job was to train Joshua to take the people into the Promised Land. Joshua stayed close to Moses and watched his every move. God assured the people ….. ‘As I was with Moses ….. so shall I be with Joshua.’ Training is such an important role. Those we train will go further than we ever did. That is a successful life!

Sue’s Views

 I’ve always felt sorry for Moses! He led those ungrateful people for 40 years ….. and then God wouldn’t allow him to enter the Promised Land. And it was because one day ….. when the people were complaining about having no water to drink ….. God told him to speak to a rock ….. but in his frustration ….. Moses struck the rock with his rod instead! It seems a minor misdemeanour ….. but God saw it differently. Moses had walked and talked with God all those years so maybe he was held to a higher standard. The more we know ….. the more is required of us. But one thing I’ve come to understand is that Moses had fulfilled his God given purpose ….. and it was someone else’s job to take Israel into Canaan. We must not covet someone else’s blessing. We just need to make sure we do our own the best we can. All the glory must go to God!

Sue’s Views

When the spies told the people they’d seen giants in the land God had told them to possess ….. they said ‘ We felt as small as grasshoppers and that is how we must have looked to them!’ Moses reminded them of how God had carried them on His shoulders for 40 years and no harm had come to them. There is no safer place than on Daddy’s (or Pa’s) shoulders! But instead of seeing themselves looking down on the giants ….. they had adopted a ‘grasshopper’ mindset! How you see yourself will determine how others see you. The Israelites had been slaves for 400 years. It has been said that Moses hardest task was not getting them out of Egypt ….. but getting Egypt out of them! How about you? Does your past determine how you see yourself? Can you picture yourself on your Father’s shoulders ….. looking down on your enemies?

Sue’s Views 

I am now into the book of Deuteronomy on my journey through the Bible. Deuteronomy means ‘second law’. Why was there a need for a second telling of the Law? Because by this time ….. all those who had come out of Egypt had died during the wilderness wanderings. Apart from 2 men ….. Joshua & Caleb ….. Moses had to teach the Law to a brand new generation. He taught them the history of their ancestors ….. where they had come from ….. how special they were to God ….. and where He was about to take them. Every new generation needs to learn that so they can develop their own faith. What are we passing on to the next generation? A Joshua and Caleb spirit ….. or a fear of the giants?

Sue’s Views

If you have children ….. you have probably heard the question ‘Are we there yet?’ ….. from the back seat! Probably when you are just leaving your street! But imagine going on a journey that lasted 40 years! That’s what happened to the nation of Israel. The amazing thing is that their clothes and shoes didn’t wear out ….. their bodies stayed strong ….. and they lacked nothing! Sometimes ….. journeys can be tiresome ….. but our attitude determines the length of the journey!

Sue’s Views

Today marks the beginning of a new week ….. a new month ….. and a new season! And yet we are in lockdown again! If you are frustrated ….. spare a thought for the Israelites! They set out on a journey that should have taken 11 days ….. but ended up taking 40 years! Their constant complaining and griping meant that God had to wait until the generation that left Egypt had died in the wilderness. He couldn’t take them into the Promised Land with that attitude. A new season requires a new mindset! What old habits ….. patterns of thinking ….. and bad attitudes need to die before you can enter into the promises of God? The wilderness years were years of testing. We could see this time of lockdown also as a time of testing. Are we going to complain ….. point the finger ….. and act in rebellion? Or are we going to look for the miracles and provision of God along the was! Food for thought!

Sue’s Views