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40 Day Challenge

40 Day Challenge #31 – Signs and Wonders

by Navigator Jo April 1, 2020

written by Navigator Jo

When Jesus walked this planet he took upon himself the limitations of being human. This however, did not prevent Him from living a life ‘peppered’ with supernatural activity and signs and wonders.

“Even with the overwhelming evidence of all the many signs and wonders that Jesus did…” (John 12:37)

“Could He possibly do more signs and wonders than this man has done?” (John 7:31)

“Jesus healed many people of sicknesses, infirmities and evil spirits and gave sight to many who were blind.”(Luke 7:21)

For many people, looking at His life, this would seem ‘normal’ for the Son of God, but they forget He was ‘in all things as we are’ in His humanity.

So, with Jesus as our example to follow, we have to ask ourselves the uncomfortable question; ‘Does my life reflect His in this regard?’

“Lord, stretch out your hand of power through us to heal and to move in signs and wonders by the name of your son Jesus.” (Acts 4:30)

Are you following His example?

“I tell you this timeless truth; the person who follows me in faith, believing in Me, will do the same mighty miracles that I do – even greater miracles than these because I go to be with the Father.” (John 14:12)

Signs and Wonders and Our Motivation

The close ‘connection’ that Jesus had with Father in his daily life ensured that there was a ‘flow’ of signs and wonders. They were an expression of His heart and of Father’s will, not an end in themselves or a goal to be ‘obsessed’ by.

Maybe this is the key to coming into a place where signs and wonders are commonplace around us?

If there is a distinct absence of signs and wonders in the sphere around you it leads inexorably to the consideration that your ‘connection’ to Father, the purity of your heart and motivation are not as healthy as they could be. Do you have the courage to consider this possibility? If you do, then remember to include Holy Spirit in your deliberation as he has much revelation and explanation to give you. He also can ‘fan the flame’ of God’s power inside you.

Read a few instances of some of the miracles of Jesus:
(Mark 1:42/ Luke 22:51/Luke 8:43-55/ Matthew 12:15/ Matthew 14:14/ Matthew 17:18/Matthew 21:14)

– Navigator Jo

April 1, 2020 0 comment

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40 Day Challenge #30 – Faithfulness

by Navigator Jo March 31, 2020

written by Navigator Jo

Faithfulness’ is the concept of unswervingly and unfailingly remaining loyal to someone you love, and putting that loyalty into consistent practice regardless of extenuating circumstances. We know that God is faithful in His nature, character, actions and promises.

“I am the Lord I do not change but remain faithful to My covenant with you.” (Mal 3:6)

“The Lord is good and His mercy and kindness are everlasting, His faithfulness endures to all generations.”(Psalm 100:5)

Jesus came to Earth to exemplify and demonstrate these truths.

“If you have seen Me you have seen the Father.” (John 14:9)

“I and the Father are one.” (John 10:30)

From Faithlessness to Faithfulness

Faithfulness is one of the fruit of the Spirit so is something we can expect to see in the lives of those who claim to be following Jesus. It is one thing to believe in God but another to be faithful to Him and His Kingdom.
Many interpret ‘faithfulness’ as loyalty to their church, servitude and defending our perception of the truth. This has led many Christians to spend their life mistakenly serving the vision of someone else and never truly connecting with the destiny that God had planned for them. Of course, a servant heart is in order, as is a loving heart and ‘preferring’ one another.

However, I believe that we are called to be faithful to ‘living as the person God created us to be’ (identity) and fulfilling the assignment He purposed for us (destiny). Being faithful to God because you love Him is vastly different from trying to be faithful because you are fearful of Him and want to try and keep the rules. Once again this is all about your heart motivation for what you do.

If all this seems like an impossible goal, ask Holy Spirit to take you on a journey of discovery, healing and revelation.

This is how we best honour our Creator, appropriate that which Jesus accomplished for us and make an impact on the world around us.

– Navigator Jo

March 31, 2020 0 comment

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40 Day Challenge #28 – Comparison

by Navigator Jo March 28, 2020

written by Navigator Jo

Experiencing the abundant blessing of life itself as a gift from God is precious and transformative. This is often soured and distorted when we engage in the practice of comparing ourselves with others, their circumstances, gifts or ministries.

Many think that lack, anxiety or resources are the issue but actually the problem is comparison. When we try to fill our emptiness with ‘stuff’ or achievement we are merely papering over the cracks. We must lose the compulsion to measure ourselves and our lives by looking at other people.

When we simply receive the experience of being alive, we begin to discover the eternal reality of abundance, joy, fulfilment and love. This changes our perception of pretty much everything but especially of ourselves.
We are co-heirs with Jesus over all creation with no need to slavishly run after the hollow, shallow and temporal trifles that so many spend their life chasing. You were not designed to feel empty, insignificant or fearful – the Creator has said so!

So why the ‘disconnect’? Why is there a chasm between our reality and the one offered to us by God? The only affirmation we need are God’s! If we live peaceably with all, stay intimately and relationally connected to Father, Jesus and Holy Spirit, we need not concern ourselves with other people’s opinion of us.

Refrain from judging others but also refrain from judging yourself by comparing the unique you with the unique others. Most of the conclusions we come to when we compare ourselves with others are erroneous anyway!

You are alive, so touch, smell, see and hear what is around you – heighten your senses and live in appreciation of the moment; sense creation’s vibe and song. Perceive that your life here on earth is but a segment of an eternal continuum. All that we need to live our life to the full has been provided by the one who gave us that life and whose breath is at the very core of our being. Our collaboration with God, if it’s unconditional and intentional, will bring us to a place of exuberance and joy regardless of the circumstances of life. It was His plan for us all along!

“We wouldn’t dare put ourselves in the same class or compare ourselves with those who rate themselves so highly. They compare themselves to one another and make up their own standards to measure themselves by and then they judge themselves by their own standards. What self- delusion!” (2 Cor 10:12)

“You are the body of the Anointed One, and each of you is a unique and vital part.” (1 Cor 12:27)

– Navigator Jo

March 28, 2020 0 comment

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40 Day Challenge #26 – Hypocrisy

by Navigator Jo March 26, 2020

written by Navigator Jo

Hypocrisy is: ‘a feigning to be something you are not, pretense; not living out what you say you believe.’
What is on the outside is not what is on the inside. The word ‘hypocrite’ has a root meaning in Greek of ‘actor’, ‘pretender ‘or ‘dissembler’. Read Matthew 6:1-8 to see how Jesus explained this.

Jesus was an honest, godly and loving person who said what he meant and meant what He said. His thoughts, speech and actions were saturated in integrity. His ‘yes’ meant yes and His ‘no’ meant no! He didn’t indulge in duplicity, deceit, two-facedness or political correctness. The external kindness and integrity that He displayed were a reflection and expression of His internal, heart felt disposition. The external and the internal were in sync with each other, resulting in an absence of guile and hypocrisy.

Any tendency we have to be outwardly holy but inwardly corrupt needs to be ruthlessly exposed and removed (a Pharisectomy!). Anything that is a ‘sham’ is best brought to the cross and exchanged for holiness and honesty. It’s sobering to realise that Jesus reserved His criticism and condemnation for those who exemplified hypocrisy by their religious legalism and self-righteous arrogance.

How are we doing with the outworking of this in our lives?

This, therefore, is the example He left for us to replicate as His followers. So we need to ask how we are doing with the outworking of this in our lives (ouch!)

“You outwardly seem just and upright to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.” (Matthew 23:28)
“Knowing their hypocrisy Jesus asked them ‘Why are you testing Me?'” (Mark 12:15)
“Make sure you are not swayed by the hypocrisy and phoniness of religious leaders.” (Luke 12:1)
“Wisdom from above is always pure, filled with peace, considerate and humble. It’s filled with love and never displays prejudice or hypocrisy in any form.” (James 3:17)
“The Lord hates double standards – hypocrisy at its worst!” (Proverbs 20:23)

– Navigator Jo

March 26, 2020 0 comment

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40 Day Challenge Day #25 – Compassion

by Navigator Jo March 25, 2020

written by Navigator Jo

This word is defined in the dictionary like this: ‘Compassion involves allowing ourselves to be moved by the plight or suffering of another and experiencing the motivation to help alleviate the situation and console the person.’ In Latin it means ‘co-suffering’ and is much deeper than empathy, sensitivity or kindness, although they are elements of compassion.

The ultimate example of compassion is the suffering and death of Jesus, for the sake of the world that He came to redeem and restore to the Father.

Compassion means that someone else’s struggle or heartache becomes your heartache too. It’s a heart response not a mind set or intent. Although it inevitably leads to action it is primarily an emotion/motivation. Jesus found Himself responding to what confronted Him from a position of being emotionally moved and affected. His tender loving heart initiated a reflex response which was, of course, in tune with Father.

Check out these examples from the gospels: Matthew 9:36, Matthew 14:14, Matthew 20:34, Mark 1:41,
Mark 6:34, Mark 8:2, Luke 7:13, Luke 15:20

As followers of Jesus we have a clear example to follow: “Show compassion for others, just as your heavenly Father overflows with mercy and compassion for all.” (Luke 6:36)

Jesus said, “If only you could understand the words, ‘I want compassion more than sacrifice.’” (Matthew 12:7)
“If you free your heart of greed, showing compassion and true generosity to the poor, you have more than clean hands; you will be clean within.” (Luke 11:41)

“Discover creative ways to encourage others and to motivate them towards acts of compassion, doing beautiful works as expressions of a heart of love.” (Hebrews 10:24)

“Be kind and compassionate to one another.” (Ephesians 4:32)

How does compassion exhibit itself in your everyday life?

As compassion is not a ‘learned behaviour’ but a heart response, what ‘heart surgery’ do you need Holy Spirit to perform to increase your compassion?

– Navigator Jo

March 25, 2020 0 comment

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40 Day Challenge Day #24 – The Fear Factor

by Navigator Jo March 24, 2020

written by Navigator Jo

The thing that probably immobilizes more Christians than anything else is fear. It’s like being ‘a rabbit in headlights’. It can put us into an inert stupor like being in a deep freeze, where nothing happens or changes unless a thaw occurs! Fear can be the result of many things, some self-imposed but many from other people and situations as well as childhood and adult life experiences. It can sometimes be the situation that we find ourselves in (the Coronavirus for example) where we feel we are not ‘in control’ and face great uncertainty.

In the Bible the phrase ‘Do not be afraid’ appears 365 times! This shows us that we will regularly need to face our fears but, as followers of Jesus we are equipped to overcome it.

Jesus was in all things human and experienced every emotion, situation and temptation that is common to us. This includes the natural human emotion of fear (e.g. the garden of Gethsemane). However, because of His intimate relationship with Father and Holy Spirit He was not ‘overwhelmed’ by fears but rather overcame them. He experienced it but it did not have dominion over Him. So for us, His followers, the issue is not fear itself but the ‘succumbing’ to that fear.

The Fear Factor vs. the Peace of God

The ‘shalom’ peace of God and fear cannot happily co-exist; one or the other will be dominant in our mind and emotions. Which is dominant in you? If you face fears that overwhelm you it’s because there is an absence of the ‘peace that passes human comprehension’ on the inside of you. This kind of peace is accessible to all who ‘know’ God. Holy Spirit stands ready to lead you into that peace.

“God will never give you a spirit of fear, but the Holy Spirit gives you mighty power, love and self-control.” (2 Tim 1: 7)

“I leave the gift of peace with you – my peace. Not the kind of fragile peace given by the world, but my perfect peace. Don’t yield to fear or be troubled in your hearts; instead, be courageous!” (John 14:27)

“Refuse to worry about tomorrow but deal with each challenge that comes your way one day at a time.” (Matt 6:34)

“Don’t worry or surrender to your fear.” (John 14:1)

“Jesus reprimanded the disciples, ‘Why are you gripped with fear? Where is your faith?’” (Mark 4:41)

– Navigator Jo

March 24, 2020 0 comment

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40 Day Challenge Day #23 – Moving On

by Navigator Jo March 23, 2020

written by Navigator Jo

What do we do when God asks us to move on but doesn’t give us a detailed map of the journey ahead?

When Abraham was asked by God to pack up his stuff and leave home he quite reasonably replied, ‘Sure, but where to?’ God then stunned him by saying that He wasn’t going to tell him up front!

Moving on… but to where?

Many thousands of believers find themselves, at this point in history, in a very similar scenario. They know they can’t ‘stay’ but don’t know where to go. Some are feeling pretty hacked off that God is not giving them a detailed map. This is not geographical (necessarily) but more our journey and relationship with Him.

I’m certain we are now living in a new era, which is being heralded from Heaven to those who are listening. There is a restlessness that can’t settle for mediocre anymore and it’s not based in either rebellion or desertion. Is there more?

Have you heard yourself recently thinking “There’s got to be more than this to following Jesus?”

The Only Journey That Matters

God is pushing (coaxing) many of His chicks out of their nests. He wants us to learn to fly as He intended and ‘mature’ into eagles. This involves us coming to a place of such dependence on Holy Spirit that we are happy (content) to be ‘moving on’ without a map (yes really). Maturity for the believer has much more to do with a 24/7 connection with God than with a regular ‘checking in’ with Him at church meetings. Imagine a small child walking with their father – they are not worrying about the destination or obstacles on the way because they are holding the hand of the person they trust.

Think about it! The only journey that really matters is the journey within.

Let me ask you the following: What if this hunger and restlessness comes from God? Why would He allow this? Do you believe you were created to ‘fly’? What does that actually mean for you in everyday terms?

– Navigator Jo

March 23, 2020 0 comment