Vol. 6 No. 6	June 2000

Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your unfailing love;

according to Your great compassion blot out my transgressions.

Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.

For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.

Against You, You only, have I sinned and done what is evil in Your sight, so that You are proved right when You speak and justified when You judge.

Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.

Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Do not cast me from Your presence or take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

Psalm 51:1-5,10-12 (NIV)

Sin

In the Hebrew of the Old Testament, chata (pronounced khaw-taw) is a root verb meaning "sin". Chata means to 'miss' the mark or way, to 'sin', to 'forfeit', or 'lack'. From chata is derived the noun chattaah (khat-taw-aw), an 'offence' or its penalty or expiation, or 'offender'. Chattaah means 'sin', 'sin-guilt', 'sin-purification' or 'sin-offering'.

Chattaah occurs 293 times in the Old Testament and in all periods of Biblical literature. The first mention of the word "sin" in the Bible is the Lord's warning to Cain:

"If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin (chattaah) is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it." (Genesis 4:7 NIV).

"I confess my iniquity; I am troubled by my sin (chattaah)" (Psalm 38:18 NIV).

The word "iniquity" in the above verse is the Hebrew avon (pronounced aw-vone), meaning 'perversity', or 'moral evil' and is also translated "fault" and "sin". Avon stems from avah (aw-vaw), meaning to 'make crooked'.

"Say to the Israelites: 'When a man or woman wrongs (chattaah) another in any way and so is unfaithful to the LORD [KJV - 'do a trespass ( maal = 'treachery') against the Lord'] , that person is guilty and must confess the sin (chattaah) he has committed. He must make full restitution for his wrong (asham)" (Numbers 5:6-7a NIV).

Asham (pronounced aw-shawm) in the above verse means 'guilt' or 'fault' and is also used to mean a 'sin offering'.

The basic difference between chattaah and other words for 'sin' is that chattaah mostly means a sin against God.

The Greek word hamartia (pronounced ham-ar-tee-ah) is the New Testament equivalent to chata. In Classical Greek, hamartia was used to mean missing a target or taking a wrong road. Hamartia is missing the true end and scope for our lives, which is God. It indicates an offence in relation to God, with an emphasis on guilt.

"The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, 'Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin (hamartia) of the world!'" (John 1:29 NIV).

Hamartia is from the verb hamartano (ham-ar-tan-o), from an, 'without' and meros, 'portion' or 'allotment', and means to 'miss the mark (and so not share in the prize)', to 'swerve from the truth', 'go wrong', to 'err' in action, in respect to prescribed law and especially to (morally) 'sin'.

"Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, 'Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins (hamartano) against me? Up to seven times?'" (Matthew 18:21 NIV).

Hamartolos is a "sinner", one who keeps missing the mark in his relationship with God.

"But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner (hamartolos)'" (Luke 18:13 NIV).

"My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin (hamartano). But if anybody does sin (hamartano), we have One who speaks to the Father in our defence - Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins (hamartia), and not only for ours but also for (the sins of) the whole world" (1 John 2:1-2 NIV). Thanks be to our merciful and gracious God!

The ABN - Australian

No, the ABN isn't really the Beast's number. But could it be a precursor?

A lot has been written in the newspapers about the new goods and services tax (GST) that is about to be launched in Australia. Much argument preceded the parliamentary decision to go ahead with it and the debate continued afterwards as well. Most discussion has centred on the real effect the GST will have on the cost of living.

The publicity about the GST leading up to it's launch didn't interest me much until I heard an adviser comment that many businesses had not yet enrolled, and if they were without an Australian Business Number (ABN) after June 30 they may find that no one will want to do business with them. Promotional spots on television echoed this warning.

Immediately I was reminded of the prophetic words of Revelation:

"He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name" (Revelation 13:16-17 NIV).

Necessary

The ABN is an integral part of the new tax system. It is a new ID number that is necessary for any entity to enrol in the GST. In debates about the GST there was great concern about the fairness and the far-reaching effects of introducing a 10% GST. But is the real potential long-term instrument for change actually the ABN?

Then two articles in The Weekend Australian about the ABN also caught my attention. They reported that many non-business people (such as journalists, writers, artists, investors) are also being forced to take out ABN's to prevent the body appointed on their behalf to collect royalties and such-like, from deducting 48.5% in tax and the Medicare levy. Commentator George Megalogenis, in describing the ABN as the "Australia Card for business", wrote:

The ABN is more pervasive than that, with the potential to cover almost anybody who receives a payment from a business above $50. Once established, it would not be hard to imagine that the tax office would want to switch everybody else on to its new databank, thus doing away with the less reliable Tax File Number. A single ID system for the entire economy, especially one that the tax office prefers you registered for on the Internet, is a Big Brother exercise that would do George Orwell proud. (The Weekend Australian, May 6-7, 2000, page 21).

If someone belonging to the world can see the future possibilities of such a system, then surely Christians can see the signs of the end of the age? Let us "be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves" (Matthew 10:16 NIV) and not be caught by surprise by what is to come. The Lord is returning soon! The ABN is not the devil's number and we don't need to boycott the new tax system. The new system may work for much good (we hope!). Nonetheless, it may be the vehicle that will, at a future time, be developed to fulfill the words of Revelation13. But further changes will need to occur first. Our society relies greatly on electronic banking already and this dependence is likely to increase. We need to be watching, and listening to the Holy Spirit, so as to know when to step out of the system that is slowly being put into place. Let us not get caught at a point where we can't leave the world's system, even if we want to, but instead let us depend on God in all things, learning to rely on Him more and more.

Whatever we do, let us not be afraid, because the Lord has said that these things will happen, and He is in complete control and has a purpose for these future events.

"But OUR citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Saviour from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables Him to bring everything under His control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like His glorious body. Therefore, my brothers, ... that is how you should stand firm in the Lord, dear friends!" (Philippians 3:20-4:1 NIV).

Heather Saunders

Loxton

The Lord heals!

Early in March 1999, I was involved in a car accident whilst taking my three children to school. I look after children for working families as a day care provider and two day care children were also with us in our van. We were stationary at an intersection, indicating to turn right, when a vehicle rammed us from behind.

The accident left me with very bad whiplash, which affected not only everything I did from then on, but also my family and my day care families.

I was left permanently in pain. I also lost a great deal of the use of my right arm. When sleeping I constantly needed a rolled towel under my neck and I propped my arm with a pillow every night. I lived on anti-inflammatory drugs and painkillers, heat packs and underwent weekly massage and chiropractic treatments in the effort to rehabilitate myself.

I visited an orthopaedic specialist and was diagnosed with having soft tissue damage to my neck and arm. He told me that it would take a very long time of rehabilitation of my arm to make it improve. He also advised me to protect my neck with a neck-brace whenever I travelled long distances.

Four months after the accident, my husband Michael and I attended 'Hillsong', the well-known annual Christian seminar held at Hills Community Church in Castlehill, near Sydney. We were not certain at first of the wisdom of this, but the Lord gave us a number of indicators that encouraged us to believe that He wanted us to go.

Room left for us

We were a bit behind others in Loxton in making arrangements for travel and accommodation. But the local organiser of the minibus taking a group to Hillsong told us that there were just two seats available on the bus and they were ours. However, she was not too hopeful that we would be able to stay at the place where they were going. But we contacted the place anyway. The person at the other end of the phone was doubtful at first too, but when she looked again, yes, there was one double room left!

Normally I could not make even the short trip (20 kilometres) from Loxton to Berri without suffering increasing pain. Now on the long journey to Castlehill, I braced my neck and regularly took painkillers the whole way to ease the excruciating pain in my neck and arm. But Michael and I were still keen to be going. We wanted to grow in our Christian faith and we loved singing the Hillsong music in our band in our congregation.

Our chosen elective at the Hillsong conference was 'Moving in the Spirit'. This elective consisted of a series of talks on how the Holy Spirit can work in our lives. Various presenters shared their testimonies on what the Lord had done for them through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. I am not sure why we chose to do this elective, but looking back now, God certainly led us to make this choice. I am strongly convinced that God decided to work through these elective times to heal my damaged neck and arm.

The first day I attended this session, I started finding that my arms (and especially my damaged arm) had warm pulsating feelings running through them. I was also feeling very sweaty in the upper part of my body. Every day I attended this session, I discovered an improvement in my arm. The second day, stronger sweating and warm pulsating signals came again but this time spreading to my legs as well. On leaving this session, my legs were like jelly and I could hardly stand. We were catching buses to and from these sessions, and when I gave up my seat for a disabled girl who came onto the bus last, I found that I could not stand in the aisle and had to sit on the floor!

Touched

That night at the evening worship, I still had these strong warm tingling sensations within my body. I also still felt very weak. As I sat next to Michael I touched his hand. Michael had suffered from rheumatoid arthritis in his hand for about 18 months and was not able to pick up things with that hand. He didn't say anything to me at the time, but the next morning he told me that he had felt a warm pulsating feeling (the same as I had been experiencing), pass from my hand to his, and all of the pain had gone from his hand since I touched him that night. He now has full use of that hand.

Day three came, the final day, and I had a very strong desire to attend the next session - I was hungry for more of the Holy Spirit. The minute I walked in, I could feel active, warm, sweating feelings very strongly, like my whole body was electrified. These feelings were so strong that it seemed my whole body was full of the Holy Spirit within me! During this session I shut my eyes and held my arms toward the heavens and, while people prayed over me, my arms began to shake uncontrollably. Strong warm pains ran from the lower part of my body and slowly moved up to and through my arm and neck. I felt I was sweating profusely and I began to be quite scared at what was happening. The sensations slowly became stronger and stronger and turned into sharp pain coming through my arm like knife blades, running up to my neck. My arms felt like they were being pulled up higher and higher, without any effort from me. The knife-like pains were so strong in my neck, it felt as if someone was wringing out my neck in the damaged area and trying to pull my head off! OH, IT HURT!!! All of a sudden the pain subsided and eased off, leaving only a very slight pain to the very top part of my neck. I was left feeling very weak, lacking energy and muscle strength. But by the time of the evening rally, there was no evidence of any more pain whatsoever in my neck or arm.

What a relief!!

After four months of constant pain it felt so wonderful to have no pain at all. Praise the Lord!! The whole time I was at the electives, I never ever needed to take any form of painkillers or use a neck-brace. I didn't even have to use a rolled towel under my neck for support while sleeping. This was something I hadn't been able to do since the accident.

The next day we came home from Sydney on our minibus. The trip took 18 hours in total. I travelled with no neck-brace or any form of painkillers. I moved my neck freely and continually as I chatted to others on the bus all the way home. We arrived home very tired, but not sore!

Witnessing

Since then, we certainly haven't been the same! We found ourselves witnessing to many people as a result of the healing. People that I would have least expected, have approached me to ask about what they had heard had happened to me. It certainly has given us a great boldness to witness to many people.

We now have a hunger for wanting to search for answers to our many questions. We therefore helped lead and were involved with two Bible study courses. I find now, that any free moment I have, I am searching and reading. Michael and I have a real hunger to read Christian books and to listen to teaching and inspirational tapes. Considering I have only read about two books from cover to cover in my entire life, this is truly a change for me! I now find it hard to stop!

Our home has really come alive with praise and worship music. The TV is hardly used. We are now hungry to attend the more uplifting style praise and worship services, where we can express our feelings of love for Jesus, rather than a traditional form of worship.

Sharing Jesus

I certainly have found myself making new, strong Christian friends, who I can daily talk with about Jesus.

The Lord has continued to bless us and we have been introduced to many new areas of growth that we had never ever experienced for ourselves like:

- being filled with the Holy Spirit on many occasions;

- shaking and praying myself back to sleep at nights;

- hands being laid on us;

- being prophesied over on many occasions;

- having messages from Scripture or from Christian books virtually speak directly to me through shaking.

How awesome is our God!

Michael and I hadn't gone to Hillsong to seek any form of healing. We hadn't even thought of the possibility of healing. When we returned home I was told at first by some medical experts that the relief from pain and healing would only be temporary. But I believed then that if God has healed, then it is healed! Never doubt God's work! Now a year has passed since the healing, we are stilled healed and Michael and I are planning to attend Hillsong again!

Praise the Lord for healing. He blesses us when we seek Him, pray to Him, follow Him and ask Him for His help!

Faye Taylor

Loxton

We praise the Lord for Chris, from the Palamountain family, Roger, Kerrie and Alyssa of Loxton. He and other gifted musicians from the Australian Navy Band, have patiently learnt and recorded the national anthems from 120 different countries in preparation for the gold, silver, and bronze medal presentations during the Sydney Olympics in September. So, listen out for them. Thanks band!

We rejoice with Noel and Barbara of Sydney (formerly Intercessors of Australia leaders) as they celebrate their 50 ^th Anniversary in June. They say in their recent newsletter: 'We praise the Lord for His goodness, kindness, and tender mercies to us for the 50 years of very active life and His promise to us in Psalm 71: 17-19 - "O God, You taught us from our earliest childhood and we've told others about the wonderful things You do. Now that we are old and grey do not abandon us, O God. Let us proclaim Your power to this new generation, Your mighty miracles to all who come after us. Your righteousness, O God, reaches to the highest heavens. You've done such wonderful things. Who can compare with You, O God!"'

Congratulations to Trevor and Julie Noble, of Upper Sturt, on their recent 25 ^th Wedding Anniversary celebration. To God be the glory, great things He has done!

Peter and Kathy Stevensand their four girls, of Coromandel Valley, celebrate the premature but safe arrival of a little boy, William Peter. Psalm 127: 3 "Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord and the fruit of the womb is His reward" (KJV).

We pray for the family members of Lance Gladigau, formerly of Tea Tree Gully, Adelaide, SA, as they grieve the loss of their loved one. In this difficult adjustment time, may they know the strength and comfort only the Holy Spirit can give.

We thank and praise Jesus for the life of Nell Pfeiffer, formerly of Loxton. She died recently after a wonderful life of humility and servanthood. She quietly and kindly helped so many people in need. The community of Loxton will miss her friendship. Truly the Lord has preserved thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, even for evermore! (Psalm 121:8).

The locusts are moving and multiplying in South Australia. What is the Lord saying to us as a nation? Recall that the locusts were sent to the stout heart of Egyptian Pharaoh to show Israel that the Lord was strong and mighty to overthrow great national bondages! (See Exodus 10:1-20).

"He spoke, and the locusts came, and caterpillars, and that without number. They ate up all the herbs in their land, and devoured the fruit of their ground" (Psalm 105: 34-35 KJV).

"The locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands" (Proverbs 30: 27 KJV).

"If there be struggles in the land, if there be pests and plagues, if there be diseases, or mildew, locusts, or caterpillars; if their enemies attack them in the cities of their land no matter what sore or sickness there is: then whatever prayer or whatever intercession is made by any man, or of all your people Israel, when every one shall know his own sore and his own grief, and shall spread out his hands in this house: Then hear Lord from heaven your dwelling place, and forgive, and give to every man according to all his ways, whose heart You know; (for only You know the hearts of the children of men) that they may reverently trust You, to walk in Your ways, so long as they live in the land which thou gave to our fathers" (2 Chronicles 6: 28-31).

Let us pray for Bernice Stone of Pyap who is recovering from recent surgery.

We continue to pray for Joan and Allan Heath of Victor Harbor, formerly of Clare as, with the Lord their Strength, Joan continues the fight against cancer. Radiotherapy treatment proved successful, but new cancers have appeared. Please pray that the course of chemotherapy that Joan is having will also be successful in dealing with the new cancer.

Kelvin Lange , of Loxton, remains bed-ridden in an Adelaide hospital. He continues to make a very slow but progressive recovery after a traumatic ordeal. His family would appreciate prayer for a full recovery and a wholesome return to family living.

Please pray for Graham Byrne, of Coromandel Valley, as he continues his recovery after a long illness.

Also we pray for Susanne, daughter of Doreen and Darryl Knowling, of Loxton. She continues to recover after brain surgery during which she suffered a slight stroke. She has restricted movement down one side of her body. We thank Jesus that her trust is firmly in Him and that she has a cheerful heart (Psalm 144: 15), and also, that she has left hospital for rehabilitation work at the Julia Farr Centre, Adelaide.

Amy Magarey from Loxton, has been richly blessed as she has travelled and met new friends in Austria, Switzerland and Germany. She and her family at home, would appreciate prayer as she ends her stay in Europe and enters the USA for work as a youth camp counsellor. Please pray for safe travel arrangements, for wisdom throughout the orientation time and then a smooth settling into camp life in early June.

Let's continue to pray for the important work of FEBC (Far East Broadcasting Co). Especially at this time, pray for Peter and Kathy, FEBC workers in Manila, Philippines. This couple have a busy schedule of furlough meetings bringing attention to the deep needs of their fellow believers in the Philippines currently struggling with bombings and aftermath of flooding in Manila. Also let's remember the hostages there. There is opportunity to continue to pray for their safety.

There is much need in places like Fiji and Ambon (Indonesia) where political and religious unrest is disrupting civilian life and threatening the stability of the nation. May the witness of the Holy Spirit win through.

Devastating flooding continues in East Timor. Many families are homeless and lives are being threatened by sickness.

Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon will bring relief from military tensions for some and new insecurity to others. Let us pray for the people of this troubled region.

Let us pray for the Lord to rescue the people of Sierra Leone from their tragic situation, and that justice and mercy may together prevail.

My Life Story

A tough but blessed life

I was born at Swan Reach on May 17 ^th 1921. My parents were Rudolph and Mathilde Elisabeth Grieger, who lived at Naidia, 14 miles east of Swan Reach. My parents ran the Naidia Post Office for 23 years.

Naidia is small settlement in the Northern Mallee south of Loxton. It was named by a founding group of settlers including my father and uncle who felt there was N ever a n i dle d ay i n A ustralia (Naidia)! This reflected the typical dry humour of the hard-working Australian working man of the time.

From 1927, I attended the Naidia Primary School. In Grade 7, I sat for my Qualifying Certificate Examination at the Swan Reach School in 1933. I managed to do very well gaining 628 marks of 700 and was awarded a Country Scholarship enabling me to have free board and Education for two years. This was to be a blessing for later times as the Lord used this to open up my life with opportunities to learn and develop that would not otherwise come easily to a young lad in a small country settlement.

I took a general course at Murray Bridge High School for one year. This was quite a shock for me coming from a class of four at Swan Reach to thirty in High School. Study was much harder too.

In the second year, I boarded at my sister's place two miles south of Mt. Torrens. I used to ride a bike six miles each way to Birdwood High School. There I sat for my Intermediate (Year 10) Exam and gained my Intermediate Certificate with 2 credits in Maths.

Faith

I have been a Christian from childhood. I started confirmation lessons at the Spring Head Church (Lutheran) under the tuition of Rev T Lutze. I was confirmed in 1936 by Pastor Walter Juers at Nildottie.

I was an elder at Swan Reach church for quite a few years and also a lay reader and secretary of the Swan Reach Congregation and Parish for quite a time. Later on, when we shifted to Loxton, I was an Elder of Concordia Church for eight years and owing to ill health, felt to relinquish that position in 1990.

My father worked a typical Mallee farm with shifting sands thin over sheet rock. Life was tough for farmers then. We had no fancy machines with hydraulic levers to pull and push. Farming required physically hard work. When my father's health declined, I came home to work on the farm. And there I stayed for the rest of my working life!

When I first started work in 1936, these were the days of horses and blade shearing. How things have changed since then! My first experience with grain harvesting was to drive the team of horses that pulled a six foot stripper (wheat harvester) and to turn a Bagshaw winnower by hand.

Prepared

In 1944, when I was 23, my father died and my 20-year-old brother and I took over the farm. It was then that some of the blessings of my education were useful as I was able to handle the book-work. We bought our first tractor, a Fordson Major, in 1947. Tractors were hard to get in those days. Then in 1952, my brother left to buy a fruit block.

When my father died, I found life was tough but I trusted in the Lord and with His help and provision, we managed to get by. We even managed to get out of debt which was an amazing thing.

During the late 1930's, during some very difficult farming years, my father was despairing of being able to survive on the farm. I remember one day saying to him, 'We must trust in the Lord!' My father replied, 'Oh, what good would that do?' But I thought that the Lord would see us through. If we worked hard, I believed that He would somehow find a way for us to survive on the farm. And that's exactly what happened!

In the next few years we just managed to survive and then I believe the Lord provided us a miracle. A Government scheme called the Marginal Lands Scheme was introduced which allowed us to improve and make good. This was such a blessing that we re-named the farm Marfield after Marginal Lands Scheme and the green fields of our farm. This was truly the Lord's doing!

I married Vera Nordhausen in 1948, and that was the beginning of a very happy life. Vera also had a farming background and we had a common Christian faith. We have found that the Lord has blessed us and with His provision, has strengthened our relationship and kept us together as we shared our difficulties - not so common these days.

We have a family of two boys. Robert took over the farm in 1988 and Neville became a teacher. He was posted as Deputy Head of Faith Lutheran Secondary School at Tanunda, in the Barossa Valley. He was there during the important, formative years. That school has since become a major secondary school in the region. Neville has recently been appointed Principal at the new Murray Bridge Lutheran (Unity College). This is another important position and it is something that, had not the Lord intervened, would never have happened!

Traumatic

We were on holiday in Queensland in 1981. Vera and I were visiting Neville and his family when he was suddenly taken ill. A discomforting pain was diagnosed as a muscle strain one day and the next, as a raging fatal cancer of the lungs. Neville was teaching at Maroochydore at that time but was given only three weeks to live. Vera and I both remember well the traumatic time when a team of doctors stood gathered in a room and told of the short time Neville had left.

You can imagine the decisions and heart felt struggle we each went through. We decided to return to drought- stricken South Australia so that other family members could visit and say farewell. We left Neville and his family, praying for him. He has a strong faith and we each were trusting in the Lord. Neither of us gave up hope.

Over the next few weeks, while on the farm, I had to yard skinny sheep for sale. Neville underwent chemotherapy and a series of other treatments followed. First he survived the three weeks then gradually but surely, the cancer diminished and he began to get better. Again, the Lord had provided in a wonderful, miraculous way. We know without a doubt, that this was His provision. Now, nearly twenty years later, Neville remains fit and well. And looking back, we can see how the Lord has used Neville strongly in his later teaching positions as he played significant parts in the formative years of two Christian schools. The Lord had a purpose for him to complete (Proverbs 3:4-5).

In 1981, we decided to come to Loxton to live when Robert took over our farm. My chief activities are church matters and playing lawn bowls. I used to go to my son's farm and do odd jobs several days a week, but this has now been curtailed.

On the 17 ^th May, 1990 I suffered a medium thrombosis stroke. It took 12 months for me to recover. I do not wish one of those on any one as the effects are always with me but I can still get around if I'm careful. Six months later, I had a prostate operation, only to find that I had to have a follow up of radiotherapy in Adelaide. Fortunately I was able to drive myself every week, into Adelaide. I went down on Monday mornings and came back home on Friday nights. This I had to do for seven consecutive weeks. After this I found that I could not do anything on account of a hernia. So I saw our local specialist and he insisted I have that repaired. So in June last year, I had this repair done at Berri and had to take things easy for three months.

Suffering

Recently I have had trouble with my legs. First I suffered a disc pressing on the sciatic nerve of the right leg, and after treatment for 6 months or so it almost went away, and then I suffered a mini stroke which affected the muscles of the left leg. Then I suffered a swollen foot and toes with an ulcerated big toe. The doctor took one look, said, 'This is serious.' I was at risk of having my leg amputated, so he immediately arranged for me to see a specialist vascular surgeon who cleaned out the artery. District nurses helped change the dressings for the next three months and eventually my leg recovered.

Having been so unwell at times, I am all the more appreciative of the Lord's provision to me and my family. I have always trusted Him and rejoice in that I can continue visiting the sick and aged as I have done before.

I have known the Lord's help and strength throughout a life that has had its battles. I have always been able to trust the Lord for His supply despite the battles. I am taking one day at a time, trusting in our Lord and Saviour. He certainly has taken care of me.

Edwin Grieger

Loxton, SA

Seeds from Heaven (7)

A broken heart produces good fruit.

Let's take another look at the parable of the sower. For instance, what do you think about the apparently unattainable 'fruitful field'. I mean, do you think that the Lord is fair dinkum when He says that He sometimes multiplies His Word thirty fold in you or in me?! Or what about when He says that fruitful hearts (fields) may produce sixty or even one hundred fold? Like, when did you last see evidence of just a ten fold increase of Him in your life? Am I a fruitful field or a stony paddock? As I look within me I see many 'weeds'. Where are the 'fruitful fields' around your church? Seen any lately?

Grace at work

In part answer to these questions, I think that my judgemental heart will be pleasantly surprised when I see the Lord face to face. Then I will have left this body of flesh and my stony heart will no longer be with me. Then, I expect I will see how the great and humble grace of God has been quietly at work in you. Without doubt, He has been wonderfully multiplying through you every day since you were born again. And, when He opens my log-filled eyes on the great and mighty day when I see Him face to face, He may even show me how, despite the conceit and ignorant wisdom of my flesh, He in grace, managed to do a little multiplying through me too.

But this is only part of the answer. For now, when I look in the mirror or when I look over the fence at other Christians, I wonder. And I wonder because I see less than the best of what I read in the Scriptures about the life of Joshua, or Caleb, or David, or Peter and his other sinner friends. And I wonder too about what I see in Jesus. More particularly, with regard to the parable of the sower, I wonder what He is saying to me about the fruitfulness of the field that is me.

In John 14:12 when referring to His mighty ministry, Jesus said, "Greater things than this will you do because I go to be with My Father …" . Importantly, in the very next verse, He continues, "… And whatever you ask in My name, that will I do …"

Greater things

What a far reaching statement from Jesus! Have I asked Him to do greater things in my paddock than He did in His? Do you see the fruit of Jesus powerfully through your life? Is the Spirit ministering thirty, sixty or one hundred fold through you? Perhaps He is, and if so, praise His Name! But perhaps not, and if not, why not?

Is it because you have not dared to ask Him for His power in your life? But perhaps you have. Is there then a lack of Life flowing from your heart and mine, because, as James says, "You ask and have not because … you ask for the wrong reasons, … so that you can use the blessings to serve your own desires" (James 4:2-3).

I find it interesting in this parable to see how the Lord, a carpenter by trade, talks about ploughing. Recall from last month, that in the picture language Jesus presented in this parable, He says in effect that the unprepared natural ground (like my human nature with its uncontrolled desires and inherent self-serving focus) does not make a good seedbed. Or at least, it doesn't make a good seedbed for godly (good) fruit. To the contrary, soil (souls) that has been well ploughed, is wonderfully fruitful. When my natural life is ploughed up, my flesh life is turned upside down and inner things in me are exposed. Stoniness is removed and weeds are tilled. Then the Lord's fruit grows fully in me.

Pruning

In John 15, the Lord uses a grapevine to illustrate fruitfulness. He says that the vine branch that bears no fruit is burned. The branch that bears a little fruit, is pruned (ouch!) so that I produce more fruit and then much fruit! Being pruned is like being ploughed. It may cause me pain but at the loving pruning Hand of Jesus, my Lord and Master, that pain will not leave enduring hurt.

I need live in no delusion. If the apostle Peter needed pruning, then he also needed to be cleared, turned and tilled for fruitfulness. And if he did, then so do I.

I find that I enjoy music and I like to whistle tunes (though I suspect with notes that bear little resemblance to the melody in my head!). As such, I appreciate and enjoy the skill of the musician who plays an instrument like the piano. There is within me an inner desire to be able to sit down and emulate the pianist. I think it would be really lovely to be able to play and so bring deep inner satisfaction and wholeness to my soul while at the same time (if I were better at playing than I am at whistling!), bringing great musical blessing to others. However, unless I submit myself to practice and learn the instrument, I know that I simply romanticise about playing and ministering in this way.

As a result, I am content to let someone else play and I resign myself to listening.

Now, that for me is an example of how my inner man looks at people like Peter the apostle, or at Charles Finney, Billy Graham, my local pastor or other 'great men of God'. How I enjoy reading of their ministry or listening to their sermons! Isn't it easy to resign oneself to listening and let someone else be thirty fold fruitful in the kingdom! Isn't it easy to read this parable and think, 'Oh, yes, the Lord uses some people in fruitful ministries. I wonder what little He has for me?'

Challenge

'Little, not-so-old' me, finds an ancient and big challenge in this parable. It is that the Lord Jesus desires great fruitfulness in me and, there's no escaping it - in you too - in some ways thirty, some sixty and in some, one hundred fold. Do you ever think, 'Oh Lord, I'm insignificant in Your eyes. Bring the blessings many fold through Harry, Sally, George or Tom …', while at the same time not (wanting to) recognise that the Lord may also want you to bear fruit and 'play the piano' to minister thirty or sixty fold for Him?

The good souls (soil) that yield good harvest are souls prepared, ploughed and readied. The stones are removed and the weeds are tilled. The good ground is ploughed ground but ploughing is costly.

I suspect that it is no lack of musical ability that keeps me from 'playing the piano', but rather I'm held back by a lack of desire to pay the price of learning. I don't mean paying the monetary price of learning; I mean the cost of yielding to Jesus to be fruitful in the Holy Spirit. I would prefer that the honed skill of walking in the Spirit were handed to me on a plate, rather than yield myself to the task of my calling. Part of me would rather that someone else 'learned' humility to walk in obedience and so be a hundred times fruitful in blessing others. And yet, another part of me desires with all that I have, to be submitted to Jesus and allow Him to plough me as His fruitful field!

The price

This raises a point. How many church-goers are like the 'musician me' and have inwardly resigned themselves to be unfruitful fields - to be content to sit back and listen to someone else 'play the piano' while they listen? Such an attitude suits my sinful nature. It suits my self-serving focus because I am not touched. I can shy away from fruitfulness if I want, I can make self-justifying excuses, but if I dare to be honest, one major reason why I run away, is to avoid paying the price of brokenness.

Oh, yes, I know that I can hide amid the guise that it is not my calling 'to be in ministry up front' or 'to be great in the kingdom of God', but by what authority might I take that position? The Lord makes it clear elsewhere in the Scriptures, that all members of His Body are called to be ministers of His glory (Ephesians 4:12). Perhaps you may try to avoid that passage and say that it's not the Lord's will for me, but what does He say in this parable? Rather pointedly, He says that three of the four locations where the Word of the Spirit was spoken, where seeds from heaven were sown in the soul (soil of the inner-man), produced a harvest of dead fruit!

In this Jesus did not mince words. He says that the fruit from many Christians is far less in eternal things than He desires. Why? Well, it seems that the cause of this is related to the Lord's desire for ploughing. And, in this parable, the condition for fruitfulness is ploughing, not calling!

Ploughing means broken-ness not hardness. It means cultivation not comfort. It means looking to Jesus and His ways rather than the lusty things of this world and its phoney fruit of transient pleasures. It means health and blessing not an empty awareness of falling short of His goodness. It means fruitfulness in thirty things you do, or may be in sixty things you next encounter as the Lord unfolds your life in Him. For some it will mean one hundred lovely blessings may arise from something you did, even though, like the seed that brings a wheat plant to life, you may have passed away before the harvest comes.

"Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it shall remain alone …" (John 12:24).

So what is this ploughing? What does it mean to be turned upside down, to be broken for God!?

Let's go back to what James said about our lustful desires and the natural mind. He loves me despite my failures and my fruitlessness (James 2:5). Jesus has broken the chains that bound me to my sinful nature (Romans 6:14). He accepts me as I am (truly amazing!) (Ephesians 1:5-6). I am free to serve Him and to trust myself to His mighty hand (Romans 6:18). I am rich in Him and have no need of the old ways of life in the world (2 Corinthians 8:9). My wealth is in the richness of the love of Jesus. In the difficult events of life which He brings for me, I am ploughed. In the daily paddock of my life, my pride, envy and greed are exposed. But these are nothing worth hanging onto, in the face of the love of God which I see in Jesus.

My prayer then in perspective, is not just, 'Lord, I desire to be ploughed for fruitfulness', but 'Lord I desire to be broken by You. Not by my sinful ways in death, but by Your mighty hand in Life. I want You to yield Your rich harvest in me at any level of blessing. You may choose - whether it be thirty, sixty or one hundred fold, that doesn't matter. The pain of ploughing is the pain of healing. It is brokenness for restoration and wholeness because it comes from You.

Remember the disciple Peter. He was brought to nought - and only then the fruit abounded. The Holy Spirit's harvest is great in you and me as we submit to the will of God in Jesus.

"The Lord is near to those

with a broken heart and saves those with a contrite spirit"

(Psalm 34:18).

"The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart … You will not despise"

(Psalm 51:17).

"I will look to him that is poor and of contrite spirit

and that trembles at My word"

(Isaiah 66:2).

The Word of the Lord sown in a heart that is right and good, grows well and yields much fruit (John 15:8). Praise the Lord!

Peter Magarey

Loxton

Refining Silver

While reading the third chapter of Malachi, a ladies' bible study group came upon a remarkable expression in the third verse: "And He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver". The prophets sometimes illustrated God's sanctifying His people in such terms - as like a purifying fire, that burned away the dross, the useless and impure rubbish, to leave the pure metal. What did this particular phrase mean? What did the worker of the silver do, they wondered, in the refining of the precious metal? One of the group suggested that she visit a silversmith and find out more.

So she found a silversmith, and, without revealing the reason for her enquiry, asked if he could describe what was involved in the refining of silver. He described the process in detail to her. 'I must sit with my eye steadily fixed on the furnace, for if the time necessary for refining is exceeded even slightly, the silver will be spoiled.' The lady saw at once the beauty and also the comfort of the expression, "He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver". At times it is necessary for the Lord to put His children through the furnace, difficult trials that test and strengthen. He watches steadily and intently when this is happening, His wisdom and His love at work, knowing exactly how much and how long the testing needs to be so that the result is good for those He is bringing to perfection. Such trials do not come at random - remember, "the very hairs of your head are all numbered."

As the lady was leaving the shop, the silversmith gave a final comment about his work. How did he know when the process of purifying is complete? He had a simple test - when he could see his own image reflected in the silver, he knew that the work was finished and finished well.

"For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe" (Philippians 2:13-15 NIV).

(Author unknown)

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