Jeremiah 1:5 AMP
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you [and approved of you as My chosen instrument], And before you were born I consecrated you [to Myself as My own];…”
How amazing is that! That He knew us! He approved of us as a chosen instrument, to be used by Him in our season/lifetime! – like the prophet…
I find this scripture rather empowering and profound because from the information I have been given, (now later in life) my mother lost a baby before and after me!
To understand that my heavenly father wanted me to be here, to do what has been asked of me, is a revelation considering the books that He prompted me to write - (please check out links below - available to purchase).
In church this evening (4/12/22) I was impacted by our Senior Minister, Ps Jemima Varughese -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2N8ZauofaTE
sharing on the importance of prayer cover for the next season that the Lord has for us to be equipped for and thru the power of previous ‘saints in faith’ that have gone before us to pave the way in prayer. I wish to acknowledge my Mum & Dad who have definitely been part of that host of faithful saints that have imparted to me and my siblings, a legacy of prayer. (Read their testimonies in ‘Fragrance’ – link above)
I am feeling very privileged right now to know that my Heavenly Father desires to not only have a personal relationship with me but that He also has specific tasks that are of importance, for me to play a part in.
Jeremiah 29:11 AMP
“ For I know the plans and thoughts that I have for you,’ says the Lord, ‘plans for peace and well-being and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”
Hebrews 11 (NIV)
Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
Moses’ life covered 120 years but is rooted in the faith of Amram and Jochebed,
his parents, whom not much is known. His parents were willing to have the faith
to believe in God having something unique for their son and chose to see past the
chaos that surrounded them at the time being inflicted by the Egyptians (it was
rather radical of them going against the law of the land). I want to honour my
parents, Ken and Elizabeth, for the life of faith they were walking in, especially in
the year I was born. In those faith steps that they chose many years ago, it has
enabled me to not only survive and be here but to decide to go on and be an
encouragement to others, to help build on more amazing transformations of
others” lives around me.
My parents had been on an aboriginal mission station called “Jigalong” (search extract from Trove – National Library of Australia for more info) in the far north of Western
Australia for two years before being born (I was born 1962). As my Mum was
struggling in her health being pregnant, they were required to call in the flying
doctor service several times to stabilise her (she was encouraged to fly back to
Sydney to give birth to me).
Extract from ‘Door of Hope’ by Kim Stanfield
If this is ‘a thing’ – us being needed, and obviously the Lord orchestrating circumstances for us to survive against all odds to be here - then why do we choose to fluff around and not get on with the job?
It could be said, ‘someone else can do it, I’m not cut out for this’ – from the picture above you can see the fingerprint highlighted above the words ‘I knew thee’.
The faint lines you see on your fingers and toes were completely formed by the time you were 6 months old – 3 months before you were born!...
Scientists agree that fingerprints begin to develop around the 10th week of pregnancy, but no one is certain of the precise process that creates them….
Fingerprints are set in stone by the time a foetus reaches 17 weeks….
So even if identical twins are genetically similar, the pressure faced by the foetus in the womb can affect their fingerprints….
If God should be so intent on creating us this ‘Uniquely’ – why would we even, consider hiding from His plan for us? Why not work with Him and consider hearing out what could even be possible?
1 Corinthians 7:17 AMP ‘Only, let each one live the life which the Lord has assigned him, and to which God has called him [for each person is unique and is accountable for his choices and conduct, let him walk in this way]...’
Even Jonah in the Bible didn’t want to be used (or told) by God – but we discover that it had to be him that did the job for it to turn out! (Read the book of Jonah in the Bible)
Life’s heartaches, troubles and worries do seem to be roadblocks for us at times, but they are not meant to be there permanently, so we need to keep pursuing getting back on track as the saying goes.
Philippians 3:16-21 MSG
‘ So let’s keep focused on that goal, those of us who want everything God has for us. If any of you have something else in mind, something less than total commitment, God will clear your blurred vision—you’ll see it yet! Now that we’re on the right track, let’s stay on it.’
I feel I have been on a sort of ‘roadblock’ journey for the last few years now but believing for that to change as I choose to push those road cones out of the way and clear the decks for more of what the Lord would have me to pursue and fix my vision on.
To do this, I am currently committing myself to more prayer with my Heavenly Father, both personally and corporately within my church every week - https://prayer.kingdomcity.com/
Also, looking forward to the New Year as I have signed myself up for some academic soul feeding in 2023 which translates too, engaging in attending weekly lectures live and online to work through some units of ministry that I pray will spiritually feed me as I am feeling like the scriptures in –
Ezekiel 37:1-10 AMP - Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones
37 The hand of the Lord was upon me, and He brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; and it was full of bones. 2 He caused me to pass all around them, and behold, there were very many [human bones] in the open valley; and lo, they were very dry. 3 And He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, You know.” 4 Again He said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.’ 5 Thus says the Lord God to these bones, ‘Behold, I will make [a]breath enter you so that you may come to life. 6 I will put sinews on you, make flesh grow back on you, cover you with skin, and I will put breath in you so that you may come alive; and you will know that I am the Lord.’”
7 So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a [thundering] noise, and behold, a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to its bone. 8 And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on the bones, and flesh grew and skin covered them; but there was no breath in them. 9 Then He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.”’” 10 So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they came to life and stood up on their feet, an exceedingly great army.
I believe that if we have a heart’s desire to say YES to whatever the Lord puts in front of us, then He will find ‘the’ way needed for our joy for him to burst through and accomplish amazing things for His purposes. Maybe even be part of seeing an Army come to life!!
Since I was sixteen years old, I have had the Holy Spirit seal (like a burning brand iron) on my heart a prophetic word that I have never forgotten or can shake away.
At the age of sixteen years after attending a youth camp, I was filled with the Holy
Spirit and knew that God would be there with me and for me in all things. God
placed dreams in my heart at this age that although I had no idea how they would
happen, God kept alight this desire as it was not “His” timing for them to happen
just then.
At sixteen, my family all flew to Perth for the first time for my brother’s wedding –
this is when I first fell in love with Western Australia! Also, when attending a
church meeting in the same year in NSW, there was a prophetic word given that
“God was going to move across our nation in a sovereign wave of revival, starting from the bottom left-hand corner.” Which, of course, is Perth, in WA, so from then
on, I was going to do everything possible to be a part of what God had planned for
sure!
Extract from ‘Door of Hope’ by Kim Stanfield
My husband and I are currently part of a church here in Perth that are now branching out and planting campuses on the East Coast of Australia in 2023. We have been part of this same church campus (even though it has changed its name a few times) since 1994 and seen God do amazing things to-date and are believing for God to do even more up ahead.
I am excited and looking forward to what is to come. Soaking in the times I spend talking to my Heavenly Father and basking in the knowledge that ‘HE KNOWS ME’ and I am not forgotten!