Dear Friends,

Hey! Great to see you again. Jesus is still alive and well in our hearts and God is working all over the world. Quite a number of good things have happened, (and a few not so good ones too) but Jesus is the King of everything, especially of our lives.

I have just had 3 weeks of absence from my computer so I could seek the Lord more and know Him better. I have to admit that the first week or so went well and I was mostly fairly slack for the second and third weeks but I had the touch of God this morning and some clear direction from Him for the rest of my life, and it was exactly what I have been needing and wanting for a long time. So I am excited to be a part of the Body of Christ, living in these challenging days where the world is coming to an end.

Unfortunately, there is no easy way to know God better. Spiritual growth is through discipline and patience combined with faith and humility. Now God is leading me on a path of a life of prayer and discipline. Its funny, but I am feeling like I don't really have any option about it (like a soldier who just gets his orders) but on the other hand I'm happy for this to happen too.

There's probably a lot that I could write about, and in time I will tell you some of the things that God showed me, but today I'd like to quickly share with you the main thing God was speaking to me about in that first week, I hope you don't mind.

When we read the Bible we all have this habit of assuming that the good sounding bits are for us and the bad or scary bits are for other people. However, God reminded me that actually, the Bible was written to us, the believers, and that the scary bits are warnings from Him to help us stay focussed and humble. Its because He loves us and is giving us every chance. Because of this habit we have, we often don't pay attention to the negative passages and sometimes we miss His warnings. God really opened my eyes to one passage in particular, and here it is.

"Not everyone who says to Me "Lord, Lord" shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, and done many wonders in your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'" (Matt 7:21-23 New King James Version)

This passage has troubled me for years because the only people who perform wonders in His name are believers, people like us. Finally I understood 2 weeks ago why Jesus said this, would you like to know?

The truth is, when we are saved, we are saved by faith are are no longer required to obey the laws of the Old Testament. (Romans 10:4) However we are still required to obey Jesus. We are exempted from the rules and regulations of religion but we are in relationship with the Lord. He is the Lord because basically He is the boss. So we are still required to obey Him.

If we live a life where we forget the religious laws, but neither are we submitted to Jesus, we are a law unto ourselves and Jesus says we are lawless. (v23) I realised there are a lot of people who believe in God but are a law unto themselves, they do not regard God or what He wants of their lives. Let neither you nor I be like that. Let us determine to live our lives for the glory of God, obeying Him, and pleasing Him so that on that final day we will get a "Well done" and not a "Depart from me." That's my goal anyway.

My apologies if this letter seems a bit sombre. I've had 3 weeks of deep thoughts on all these kind of subjects and it was only this morning that finally God brought me through to a new place in Him. Let us all press on to achieve higher places in our spiritual walks.

God Bless you there, I hope this letter found you well. You are still in my prayers of course and I think of you everyday. (and Jesus just can't stop thinking about you either. Psalms 139:17-18)

Cheers in the Lord

David