Living a victorious life

This morning when I went to Victory Life Church, the preacher called a young man up to the front and prophesied over him. He was 20 years old and someone, who he said will be used powerfully by God. He said that the company he kept would be absolutely critical to determining the success of his ministry and he prayed that the Lord would give him a pure heart and a pure mind and that he would find the strength to resist all temptations to retain his physical purity no matter what the cost or what sacrifices were involved. He reminded the young man about two men in the Bible – Joseph and Samson. Both had beautiful women placed before them, but only Joseph was able to resist the temptation and flee from sin. Consequently, Joseph achieved amazing things for God and fulfilled his destiny.

I was deeply encouraged by the preacher’s message and the young man’s willingness to serve God with all his heart.

I want to be like that. I want every aspect of my life to be pleasing to God. I want to live a holy and pure life where I don’t compromise my moral standards for anyone. I think it’s a key ingredient to becoming a successful intercessor. It also made me think about the company I have been keeping. Over the next few months I want to go through a bit of a filtering system with the friendships I have and weed out all the ones that aren’t helping me know God more intimately. I know we’re called to be like salt, bringing flavor to other peoples’ lives who are void of the truth, and like light, showing people the right path to take, but I guess there’s a place and a time for that. Close friendships need to be honoring to God because “bad company corrupts good character”. So true.

God has recently brought some more awesome prayer warrior brothers and sisters into my life. God Bless them all.

'Climb to the Top' Heart Foundation Challenge

Just for the record, my team at work climbed a mighty total of 6,868 floors in August, which equates to climbing Mount Everest three times! I am so impressed by them and also, by the fact that some of them have adopted a healthier lifestyle as a result of the challenge. On Friday, Lyn managed to jog most of the distance to Jacobs Ladder and back, which is a huge achievement for her. The whole time i was yelling out words of encouragement, while she was moaning and groaning. It certainly attracted quite a bit of attention, but it was fun. I also managed to jog all the way up the incredibly steep (45 degree angle) Mount Street. Woo hooo. Praise God

Patch Adams

Last Sunday, i went to the Observation City Hotel in Scarborough to attend a 9am to 5pm seminar in which i met the real Dr Patch Adams, i.e. the one who the movie starring Robin Williams was made about. My sister got four Premier seat tickets, so we sat in the front row under his nose.

I didn't realise the film was based on a true story. Patch Adams was such a crack-up. He arrived wearing a very colourful floral shirt with a crazy tie and just as crazy pants. He had waist-long hair, half of which was white, the other half blue. His 62 year old 6" (plus) frame towered over us as he told us how much he loved us all and poured out his life story. I noticed today that his web page tells the story and has all the photos and details you could possibly want, so i wont say anymore...other than WHAT AN AMAZING MAN. He is such an inspiration.

Afterwards, Justin (my awesome prayer warrior friend from Riverview) went home and mum, Juliet and i went and had dinner with Juliet's new boyfriend. Wolfgang, as the name implies, is German. He is 38 and works as an anaesthetist for the Royal Flying Doctor service. I have no idea what happened to the other guy she was seeing. It was interesting talking to him because he does a lot of things which i like to do, like blading and running. However, the more i talked to him, the more it became apparent that he really has little in common with my sister, well other than being medically qualified. He also mentioned that he practises Bhuddism. I guess the peaceful elements of this religion are plausible, but Christianity and Bhuddism are worlds apart...

My new hub cap

This is my brand new 14" hub cap - worth $72.50. Although it is possible my previous one fell off my car (from hitting a curb or something), the guy at the spare parts place reckons it is more likely that someone actually stole my previous hub cap, either when i was at Dave & Cate's house on Tuesday night or at Ewen & Christie's house on Wednesday night. I can't believe someone would do such an awful thing.

The reason the guy reckons someone stole it is because he said that if i had hit a curb and broken the hub cap, causing it to fall off, it is also likely that i would have damaged my tyre. There was no damage to the tyre whatsoever. He said it is common for people to steal hub caps, because of how much they cost. I actually saw a brand new set of four Toyota hub caps on ebay, selling for $50 (plus $20 postage), but they were the wrong size. Bummer! I really didn't like looking at the empty space, so i just ducked into the place this morning and bought one. I could've got a cheap set from Super Cheap autos - four for $17, but my car is pretty new (2005 model) and it would have looked pretty crappy if i had one odd one.... or if i had taken off the three other originals and replaced them all.

The second piccy is of my happy car, after the missing cap was replaced ;-)

Another one...

This is the executive from work who i do Jacobs Ladder with the most. She's second in charge at my workplace and doing a marvellous job, having done the ladder for about four or five weeks in a row now - about two or three times a week. I just can't wait until she's starts to increase her speed, to at least get to a jog, because i am finding that walking with her doesn't push me much. Consequently, i go running on my own every second day!

I think it should be mandatory for bosses to be involved in regular exercise. I have seen way too many overweight, unfit and unhealthy leaders in Government. They don't function at their full capacity when they are in this physical state.

Resigning

Last Wednesday I made a huge decision - to resign from working for the Government! I will use up all my annual leave first, then hand in a letter in early December to my sustantive agency, giving four weeks notice of my intention. Then I intend to take some time off, before seeking employment in the Private Sector.

I actually sat down with our Human Resources lady and we worked out that unless I suddenly have an unexpected illness, someone dies in the family, have carer's duties to fulfill, or a need to take maternity leave as the primary parent, I will lose 75 days worth of personal leave! This leave has accrued over 7+ years of working in the Public Sector and unlike annual leave and long service leave, it is not paid out when a person resigns. What a bummer!!! I guess I should be grateful though, that my substantive agency agreed to pay me out my long service leave. They could have witheld it from me.

I prayed about this decision at home group on Wednesday night and everyone felt it was the right decision - why hold on to worldly securities when God is calling us to trust in Him for everything? Especially when it hinders me from doing other things for God. I couldn't have made this decision earlier in my life. I was too set on clinging on to permanency and so set on buying a house. Working for the Government is safe - good hours, good pay, no risk of exploitation, policies to protect you, a guaranteed salary of taxpayers' money, etc... However, I realise now, with no debts or financial committments and a great lot of savings in the bank - now is a good time to take a risk.

I have lots of friends who merely sent in their CVs to private companies and were snapped up within a short time, some by big mining companies. It sounds a lot easier to get into the Private Sector - no big lengthy job interviews or recruitment panels to convince. I am young, well skilled and very employable, so why not?

Anyway, on Wedneday night, Ali had three visions for me - one was of a rower gliding across the river, another was of a little country cottage with trees out the back - both symbolic of time alone, spending quiet times with God and developing my relationship with Him. The third was of a person - well just their feet wearing a pair of high heels, and part of the person's work skirt - walking up stairs - symbolic of climbing higher in my career, maybe. Christie said she felt that I would be going into a much higher paid position with more responsibility, but she didn't think it was in Government. Ewen said he felt that God was saying He wanted me to know intimacy with Him, to prosper my relationship with Him and to learn to trust Him for all things. He said I have a list of things I want from God and God has a list of things He wants from me and only by spending time with God will these needs be met.

Funny, cos Andrew burnt me a copy of some PodCasts from Todd Bentley's website and I happened to listen to one on Thursday night that was all about different seasons we go through in life and about building, that is, in a spiritual way. Todd talked about a CEO who had given up their job to answer the call of God to work in a developing country with kids -rescuing them from all kinds of nasty situations - prostitution, exploitation, abuse and poverty. He said no one with a worldly mindset could understand why a Christian would give up the comforts of a high paid job to respond to the call of God. Hey, if a CEO can do that for a more noble cause, then so can I. It's a tough ask to let go of worldly securities and trust God to provide for you. I am ready for the challenge. I guess it'll be a while longer of living at home (big sigh). Oh well, could be worse.

I can't wait for some time off work. I can't take time off until second week of November. Then i have two weeks, return to work for four weeks, then leave for greener pasture.

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Incidentally, my sister started dating a new guy last night - a Canadian man called David. I am pretty sick of listening to all her stories. One day God will set her free from this cycle.

An awesome man of God

Todd Bentley is one of my heroes at the moment. Albeit a very strange-looking man, he is just one of the most amazing teachers i've heard and his website has a lot of free downloads.

This is taken from his website -

"Fresh Fire Ministries is an international ministry called to global harvest. Todd Bentley and his team take God's saving, healing and delivering power to the nations. Todd travels throughout North America , sparking revival fire and equipping the body in power evangelism and healing Ministry. As well, Todd and his team conduct many healing crusades throughout Africa , India , South America , Europe and beyond. Thousands have been saved, healed and delivered.

Todd Bentley, his wife Shonnah and three children, Lauralee, Esther and Elijah live in Abbotsford, BC, Canada.

In his late teens, Todd had a dramatic encounter with the saving and delivering power of God. This experience brought Todd out of a lifestyle of drug and alcohol addiction without cravings or withdrawal symptoms. He was also delivered from a lifestyle involving criminal activity, youth prisons, drugs, sex, satanic music and bondage. Todd's miraculous conversion to Jesus was much like the Apostle Paul's on the Damascus road. Todd was instantly transformed into a radical disciple and soul winning evangelist for Jesus.

God has drawn Todd into deep and intimate places of prayer. These extended times in God's presence has released a fresh prophetic and miracle-healing anointing. Recently God has used Todd to spark many revivals where meetings have been extended to last from one to two months, continuing on even after he has left.

The passion of Todd's life and ministry: is to see others set free through the anointing of the Holy Spirit and to see others come into the reality of intimate relationship with Jesus. He also desires to see Christ's body healed, equipped and rising up in the power of the Holy Spirit to fulfill the great commission.

Todd believes the body of Christ needs to be strengthened and encouraged. He ministers prophetically, corporately and personally as well as brings forth the word of God with the power and demonstration of the Spirit -- God confirming His word with signs and wonders following. God has released an increase of the healing anointing into Todd's life to the point where the blind see, the deaf hear & growths dissolve as Jesus still heals every sickness and disease".

Oh why doesn't Australia have amazing people like this!

A prophet in town

Last night, my mum, brother and i went to listen to Kerry Kirkwood, who is a prophet from America.

This is from his webpage -

"Kerry Kirwood, along with his wife Diane, are the founding pastors of the Trinity Fellowship Church in Tyler, Texas. The church was started in July of 1987. Pastor Kerry carries a strong prophetic anointing and speaks into the lives of individuals, churches, and regions. He is also a dynamic teacher and looked to by many as a pastor to pastors. As a man after God’s heart, he recognizes the absolute necessity of heartfelt and prophetic worship in the corporate setting and the life of the individual. In the last two decades, Pastor Kerry has journeyed simultaneously as senior pastor, worshipper, and prophetic voice and brings a wealth of wisdom and experience to the body of Christ".

Anyway, i was pretty impacted because i was one of the lucky people that he received a prophetic message for and boy was it spot on. I was just telling the guys at home group last week how i am often woken in the middle of the night with a huge burden to pray for people. Despite being so tired, i just feel this sense of urgency that gives me strength to do it and the Lord lays different things on my heart. For example, a few nights ago, i saw my sister in a really nasty situation in a dream and then i woke up at 3.00 am and i lay in bed with tears pouring down my cheeks praying for her for about 40 minutes. I was so tired, yet i just had to do it.

Kerry said that God had given me the gift of intercession - i.e. standing in the gap for people and fighting spiritual battles for them. He also said that i have been watching people all around me and seeing them grow and develop in different ways (e.g. in their careers, homes, marriages, parenthood, etc.. ) and inside me, feeling like i've missed out, like things have passed me by, yet God was saying that all this stuff is just in a different season for me. That those things are coming, but in His timing. That was really encouraging.

What was amazing about this guy is he went around the room prophesying over people and he was so specific and so spot on in discerning their situations. I knew some of the people he prophesied over and he described their situations so accurately, despite only just meeting them for the first time. It was just so awesome.

He's the key feature at two churches tomorrow and i can't wait to get to them. It's amazing my mum and brother want to go. I wish i could get my sister along.

Jacobs Ladder

Have had a lot of fun over the month of August 07 doing the Heart Foundation challenge with some work colleagues. I have been so encouraged by my team of 11 staff. It was meant to be teams of ten, but we weren't in the business of excluding anyone! Yesterday, for the final day, i gathered a few of my team members for a quick photo, before heading out to Jacobs Ladder. Unfortunately, i could only get five of us together for a photo. I am going to try and snap the rest of our team next week.

In the first photo, the two blokes are managers (the one on the right is my Manager), the blonde haired lady behind me is our Office Manager and the black haired chick does IT support.

In the second photo, you can see the view from the top of the ladder. The third photo shows the extent of the ladder, looking down. The fourth photo shows us coming down!

The very beautiful Elyse

Last night I went to Elyse’s 21st, which was accommodated in a lovely venue in Bibra Lake. All her family looked absolutely stunning and I was overwhelmed by the warmth of the atmosphere.

Elyse’s parents both gave prized speeches, Christie wrote and sang a hilarious song for her little sister, her best friend talked about what a great friend she is, a work colleague talked about exceptional work strategies she has, and then Elyse gave a touching speech in which she thanked each family member and told them all how much she loved them. It was just so sweet. They also have a wonderful extended family. What a blessed family.

Elyse's 21st

Dave and Jenny's wedding

These are some photos from the gorgeous July 2007 wedding of my cousin. Thanks for sharing them Dave. They are really special and Jenny’s dress is so pretty.

Pancakes

Today some work colleagues and i went out for lunch to the Pancake place in Carillion. It was really nice eating out with a nice group of fun-loving people. These people are the youngest in the office.

Home group on the night b4 C's 29th b'day

Here we have the lovely Christie, Elyse, Ewey, Clayton and Danau!

Sorry

This morning I got a phone call from the Chairman of the interview panel offering me the job I don’t want. He totally caught me off guard, because I hadn’t yet prepared a response to say to him. I was waiting for the letter in writing before I thought of a polite way to decline it. He told me that the panel was very impressed with me and then started to talk about arrangements when I interrupted and said “I am so sorry Geoff, but I’m going to have to decline the position”. He was like “why?” and then I kind of muttered out a very awkward response. I started by saying that the job seemed really different after the interview and that I didn’t feel like it was the right job for me. What the heck was I meant to say?

I didn’t have the heart to tell him I thought the photos decorating the foyer were really distasteful, or that I didn’t appreciate the moaning outside my door while I was reviewing the questions, or their lifeless handshakes or that I thought the panel were really uninspiring and not the sort of people I want to work with or be like. I was caught off-guard so I sort of just mumbled that I was not emotionally up to it and that I had applied for a few jobs and my heart was set on a different job …uuurggghhh.

The worst thing is, I had gone to so much effort to excel in the interview and prove I was the ideal candidate. He sounded so disappointed and even tried to negotiate with me. He suggested they could restructure the position for me. How could I explain to him that it just wasn’t God’s will for me. I couldn’t tell him the warning dream I had, he wouldn’t understand. So instead I said I just wasn’t ready for the challenge and that maybe in the future I would reconsider working there. He told me that another position is likely to be free within the next six months – I was wondering why!!! There was just something about the place that made my skin crawl and I felt very uncomfortable talking to him.

I’m glad that’s over. Did I achieve anything in doing that application? I guess it’s encouraging to know that I can convince a bunch of strangers that I am worthy of a promotion, but at the cost of messing them around and disappointing them, I’m not sure it was worth it. I feel so low about the whole thing ;-(

Catching the train

The turbulence in my job situation has finally drawn to a close, thank God!

Scenario 1
The week before last, I found out that I was short-listed for a permanent job. The job is a promotional opportunity, which would raise my salary a huge amount and give me long-term financial security and stability. It’s a job I know I can do and felt somewhat passionate about applying for because the work involves improving the lives of people with disabilities and allocating funding grants to lots of little not-for-profit organisations that do a great job.

However, in the week leading up to the interview, I got horribly sick with the stress of preparing for an interview and with the worry and anxiety that comes from knowing that if I missed out on this permanent job, I had no other options that could present me with a job by September, which is when I have a meeting with my former employer to discuss my work situation. My former employer has put me through hell with unfair treatment, after I scored a permanent job with them years ago, which they abolished and then refused to abide by policies and find me a good alternative. They have made my life very difficult over the last six months, in particular, being on my back about finding a permanent base elsewhere. Not the easiest thing to do when you’re in a very high pressure job, working with high-profile executives every day!

Anyway, so I fought sickness all last week, had two days off in which I just lay in bed and felt really sorry for myself. I lost my voice, but fought back to regain it, just in time for my interview on Friday! When I got there, I sat in the foyer for a while. There I was confronted with massive colour photographs adorning the walls – but unfortunately, they were not pleasant. Rather, they were off people in wheelchairs, blind people, deformed people, etc… I had just been reading a book on prayer and fasting in which people with similar conditions had been miraculously healed, but seeing these people caught in a photograph in time, made me feel really ill. Photographing people with obvious problems, blowing them up to 7 foot images and putting them on the walls, doesn’t arouse hope in me... in fact, it does quite the opposite.

Then a lady came to collect me – she seemed somewhat cheerless and didn’t make conversation with me. She took me to a little room to read the questions for half an hour in advance. While I was in there, I could hear someone moaning outside the door. It was someone who obviously had a mental illness or some condition that compromised their heath. It wasn’t a nice sound.

Then came the interview. Strangely, none of the panel members offered to shake my hand, so I walked around and volunteered my hand. In response, I got completely limp handshakes with no energy. It didn’t make me feel any better. While the interview questions were really easy and I had thorough answers for all of them, the panel members hardly smiled or showed emotion. I almost felt like they were like zombies or robots in autopilot mode, just giving me the occasional nod. How odd. The chairman hinted that I had the job and said he’d confirm the decision in writing in three weeks time. I got back to the office and later found out that both my referees had been contacted with the impression that I would be offered the job. There is no way I will accept it, despite the huge increase in pay, the permanency and financial security. I don’t want to be like those people. They appeared to have no hope. I have never been to such a miserable interview!

Scenario 2
When I got back to the office, I was feeling really disappointed, wondering what on earth I would do. Later in the afternoon, our deputy commissioner dropped in and asked if we could “talk”. Strangely, she closed the door. I was thinking “whatever”. Things really couldn’t get much worse. She hadn’t realised I had been in an interview that morning. Anyway, she raised the issue of the communications job that I blogged about earlier. She told me that the second round of advertising had not attracted the person she wanted and so she had ceased the recruitment process and prepared a letter seeking a review of the position in order for it to be reclassified. She told me she really believed in me, saw my potential and just felt inside that the job would be perfect for me. She asked me if I could re-consider taking it. This time, instead of a recruitment process, she would organise for my permanency from my previous job, to just be transferred directly into it with no fuss.

Dreams
Interestingly, a couple of weeks ago, I had two dreams, which I felt were from God. In the first, I was in a train that slowed to a halt and then dissolved. I was sitting on the tracks wondering what to do, when all of a sudden, a huge train came from the opposite direction, really fast up to where I was. It was on a different track about a metre from me, so I was in no danger. I was just feeling amazed at the speed at which it was coming and how quickly it came into my presence. It was a beautiful old fashioned train with smoke blowing out the front.

The second dream was less pleasant. I was on a boat filled with people and standing up the front with some guy. The boat was moving extremely fast. As we both looked over the front, we could see loads of crocodiles in the water. Within a few seconds, we had reached a caged wall, made of what looked like cyclone fencing. I started to climb the fence. As I looked over my shoulder, I could see some guy in the water and there were crocodiles all around him. As I looked back, I realized I was not clothed – I felt exposed and uneasy.

Interpretation
I have been reading some Christian books on interpreting dreams. The books say that trains and boats are symbolic of corporate ministries and crocodiles are symbolic of religious spirits. I see my work as being like a corporate ministry and so I believe these dreams were symbolic of two corporate ministries. The first was an exciting, colourful ministry. The second was dark and dangerous. I feel like they symbolize these two potential jobs that I could choose from. I guess a lot of these little not-for-profit organisations have been set up with Godly principles, but they are not always administered by people with the right hearts. That's where i see potential for "religious" spirits i guess.... people who just do things routinely, not with the love or truth of God intwined in them.

So, when the time comes, I will be boarding the train, not the boat, thanks to my Director, our Mighty God.

Current

This is my sister's current bf....

Flung!

My sis gave this guy the flick recently. I think they lasted about two weeks, but not to worry, she's back with the creepy Norwegian guy. Where does she find all these men!!!

Sis and dog

This is my sis with her dog, Lucius.

Cousins

This is my cousin Dave and his wife Jenny. What a gorgeous couple!