I had a dream. I will read it to you...
I was in a stadium - like a sports stadium. It was bigger
that the MCG and held quadruple times as many people too. I was in the crowd in
my seat and I was sitting next to Jade Lewis. We were both enjoying the
spectacle. I was looking down onto the ground, when I was suddenly out of my
seat and standing in the middle of the grassed oval. I looked around to view the
crowd. It was overwhelming.
Just then Joyce Myer appeared, she hurriedly took me by the
arm and was saying that we have to hurry toward "the place". She took me into a large room - a storage room. In it were shelves and
shelves of lovely, delicious food. I was amazed at how much there was in
storage!
I said, "How come you don't eat all this food yourself!
It looks so good!"
She looked at me with her finger straight up and said,
"If I did that the blessing of God wouldn't come!"
I said, "Gee, what a temptation to want to keep it all
to yourself!"
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I want to tell you what the Lord said to me after spending
time in prayer over this dream:
"There are many people who need spiritual food Nikki. You need to
share your bounty with people. If you don't, the blessing won't come. You have
tasted and you know that my words are delicious, now you have enough in
storage, you must get ready to start handing some of it out. Get ready!"
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The Storehouse Church is born out of this dream.
Since I met Jesus, my vision changed.
Before I met him, what I was looking forward to in my life
(which by the way was very limited and quite illegal) changed significantly and
very fast.
When you have that revelation of Gods acceptance of you -
even in your sinful state - you begin to gravitate toward that love.
When you get to know Him and his love and forgiveness - by
listening to the truth of what Jesus did on that cross. Soaking your mind in
that truth and coming to a deep understanding of what this forgiveness actually
means for you personally - You begin to change your priorities.
It literally feels like you are experiencing a new birth. His
spirit opens your eyes and teaches you mysteries. He develops your character
and you start to surprise yourself at how much better you are handling life.
When you get to a certain point of revelation, you take the
step to be baptised and make a public declaration of your commitment to God.
Going down into the water represents you dying to yourself and your own plans
for your life - and coming up out of the water represents your commitment to obedience
to him in new life Jesus died to give you.
After this happened for me, I began a journey with Jesus as
my Lord. The one I follow. The one I trust with my life.
I read as much as I could about Christianity, I went to Bible
College for a time but that didn't compare with the training I got at Teen
Challenge that lasted almost 2 years.
I drank spiritual milk for ages and then progressed in to
more substantial truths. As I showed God my willingness to Him and my desire to
be more like Jesus than my own self, He poured out the revelation. He taught
me, and he disciplined me and he loved me and he made me laugh and he made me
cry.
My way of having a relationship with God has been very
personal. I am a dreamer. So that is something on a different level. My
relationship with God through my dreams is something quite boring for people to
listen to. Ask my Mum or Steve! Oh I had another dream... oh yay another dream!
I am a reader and I journal. I write down every nugget of
wisdom I find in books with reputable Christian authors. I immerse myself in
the wisdom of seasoned mature Christians. I love to learn fast. I have proof
that I am like this... ask Steve if he has any space on the bookcase aside my
journals.
·
I have journals for notes out of books I read that I
don't want to forget.
·
I have a dream journal actually I have 5 dream
journals that I have recently converted to a Dream Blog as digital is better
·
I have 2 journals that have the last 10 years of life
goals in.
·
I have a journal that sets out the goals I have up to
the year 2022!
·
I have a journal that I document how to interpret symbols
God shows me...
This is how my vision changed from planning out a life for
myself, to storing up as much Christian wisdom as I could because I couldn't
get enough of Jesus.
Reminds me of the where Jesus is talking to the disciples in
Matthew 13 about what the Kingdom of Heaven is like. He explains how there are
different soils that the seed falls on - meaning that our hearts need to be
prepared to receive the Word.
Then goes on to explain how it is like finding a treasure ...He
says that when you find the treasure of the Kingdom, how precious it is! That
is me. I find it to be so precious I started hoarding all of His delicious
revelations and mysteries!
I am actually quite a shy person. I feel like I stumble over
my words. I have a tendency to feel like someone could do a better job than me
at sharing Gods word. I just like to stick to hoarding my pearls and enjoying
them in my special time with Him.
This is what He was talking about in that dream. I have
become a revelation hoarder - so much so that my first thought when I saw all
that food in my dream was to ask, why don't you just eat this all yourself!
The fact that there were many people outside who needed the
food didn't occur to me! Until I got the Joyce Myer finger! You must share
Nikki.
You know what got me - the lil hoarder that I am - is that
the threat of not receiving the blessing that would come if I didn't share!!
How ironic is that!
I have had many dreams since then and God continues to speak
to me like that. I love his Word and His life and we call it MISSIONS SUNDAY
today, but what it really is, is just being willing to share your relationship
that you have with God, with other people every day.
It is hard and that's why coming to church and being part of
a fellowship that supports telling people about Jesus is a good way to be a
part of that without having to be the one to stand up the front.
This church is called The Storehouse based on that dream and
based on the account in the Bible of Joseph.
The story is about a man who was favoured by his father and hated
by his brothers but ended up 2nd in charge from Pharaoh. Pharaoh had a dream
and needed an interpreter. God gave Joseph the gift of interpreting dreams and
this led to favour. Joseph was put in charge of the Storehouses in Egypt
because the dream predicted 7 years of very good harvest, followed by 7 years
of severe famine.
He was in charge of collecting the grain to store for the
entire country and beyond. He did it and the nation didn't starve.
He was wise and had very good business sense! He could handle
responsibility and was a great leader. I want to be like him!
This is why we are looking at what we can give out to a world
that is spiritually starving. We have to.
Take a look at this video I put together and then I'll tell
you about the project we as a church are going to be committed to supporting...
Deep Tube
Bore Wells - Life Giving Water
Here in
Australia, we have ready access to safe, clean drinking water. But many of our
brothers and sisters in India are suffering. With issues such as extreme
drought, over-population and a lack of sanitation in many areas, there is a
scarcity of safe drinking water in many rural towns and villages.
Water
borne diseases are on the rise in India. According to Water Aid, an
international organisation working to ensure safe drinking water for Indian
villages, 37.7 million Indians are affected by water borne diseases annually
and 1.5 million children die of diarrhoea alone.
A large
population of poor Untouchables and Christians suffer needlessly from
preventable illnesses and water-borne diseases during times of water shortage.
Where clean water is available, discrimination often prevents the poor and
marginalised from accessing it. They are not allowed to go near an existing
well when rich and high caste people are present.
When they
do try to collect water they often suffer physical violence and abuse.
Christians are treated as outcastes due to their belief in Jesus. They live
under constant oppression and discrimination.
The majority of hand pumps provided by the government in India are
drilled close to Hindu or Muslim prayer houses. These wells, over time, often
become part of the prayer house or get ‘sanctified’ thereby denying access to
members of other religious faiths whose touch or presence could taint the sanctity
of the water.
Pastor Phin* laments “we have to wait till it gets dark to go near the well and draw water. During the day we are afraid to go near the well due to verbal abuse and physical violence.”
Mamata* states “we have to walk two kilometres to get water from the well. If high caste people are present we have to wait. It may take hours to draw water and then reach home. This situation becomes worse when the temperature sores and the water level dips low.”
Pastor Phin* laments “we have to wait till it gets dark to go near the well and draw water. During the day we are afraid to go near the well due to verbal abuse and physical violence.”
Mamata* states “we have to walk two kilometres to get water from the well. If high caste people are present we have to wait. It may take hours to draw water and then reach home. This situation becomes worse when the temperature sores and the water level dips low.”
Through
their work with rural communities, Empart Church Planters and Key Women have
identified the need to provide fresh drinking water for poor communities.
Empart has committed to drilling deep tube bore wells across the north and
eastern states of India where chronic drought and religious extremism exist.
The aims of the Deep Tube Bore Wells Project include:
·
Providing access to safe drinking water without
discrimination.
·
Releasing the poor and the downtrodden from those
who hold control over basic necessities.
·
Gaining wider acceptance, appreciation and
participation for the poor in their communities.
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We want to be a church
that gives out to the spiritually starving and we believe that looks like
finding an outreach like this.
We want to make a pledge
that we commit to every month and that is a financially wise amount. Steve and I
have decided that we will commit to $50 a month to start us off.
I believe that when
people know their money is actually going to a good cause they are more likely
to part with it. So I hope I have clearly shared what we will be putting the
money you give into.
Any money over the $50
per month that we collect will go into a separate account for Missions Money
and that will go on things like the Coodanup Camp Appeal and things. I will
always update you on what you are supporting!
So starting from next Missions Sunday will be taking up 2 offerings from next month on.
