RESTORATION BEFORE COMMISSION

By Suzane Avadiar | @suzaneavadiar

On the night Jesus was betrayed and arrested, Peter struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear. Despite knowing the horrific events that awaited Him that night, Jesus FIRST took the time to reach out to heal and restore the servant's ear and reprimanded Peter for his action (Luke 22:50-51).

Truth be told, Jesus had a bigger fish to fry that night. He was just hours away from fulfilling His biggest Commissions – to complete what He was sent to do. The night was just getting started for Him but Jesus always did what He saw His Father do (John 5:19).

Even in the midst of conflict and turmoil, God will always restore relationships and heal wounds; that is simply the kind of Father He is. That is how important restoration is to God.

It is never God's will to bring His plans and purposes to pass by creating discord because He believes in unity and love.

We cannot effectively accomplish God’s work with fractured relationships all around us or when our soul is bruised. That is why God spends time working in us, as much as around us, before He sends us out to accomplish His work.

Restoration before Commission.

There are times when I have looked back at my life and wonder if I will ever regain all that I’ve lost… All those years robbed by disappointments, loss, bad choices, rebellion, pain… All those years that I spent fruitless and away from God…

But, in Joel 2:25, God promises: “I will restore the years that the locust has eaten.” It’s a powerful promise made to His people, who suffered a complete destruction of their harvest to swarming locusts, and I believe that our lost years are not unlike those “locust years” in the Old Testament.

God did indeed restore their loss - over and in abundance. He reminded his people He was in their midst and said, “I am the Lord your God” - Joel 2:27.

That's who God is; He can use every destruction in our life and turn it around because "God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them" - Romans 8:28

Psalm 23:2-3 says “He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.”

It is God who finds us the green pastures to lie on and it is He who gives us the peace of the Holy Spirit. When God begins to restore our soul, He does not want to merely piece us back together again.

God wants us restored and transformed inside out so we begin to live a life that mirrors Jesus Christ.

It is for this reason that God never gives up on any of His children. He will lead each of us away from our prodigal paths and back to Him - restored to be holy and righteous as He made us.

Jesus said, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28). His invitation is for ALL of us to come to Him. That invitation is found repeatedly throughout scripture.

Why is God always coaxing His children to come closer? Because above all, He wants to first restore the intimacy that was lost in the garden.

God wants to walk shoulder to shoulder with all His children again, just as Adam once did. The key to this restoration happens in the quiet; simply “draw near to God, and He will draw near to you” [James 4:8].

It is only when our intimacy with God is restored can we fully step into what He has called us to do. We cannot fulfill our commission without God leading the way.

Restoration before Commission.

Jesus died so that we can have intimacy with God again. When He died on the cross, the veil was torn and the intimacy, which was stolen from us because of sin, was restored.

Initimacy with God is your portion. You belong to God. You were created to walk closely with Him, as Adam and Eve did in the Garden of Eden.

Nothing “can seperate you from the love of God that is in Christ” (Romans 8:38) so it’s time to claim back your inheritance!

Restore that Perfect Fellowship; He’s longing for YOU!

Suzane Avadiar is a writer, blogger and avid traveller from Malaysia. Over the last 18 years, she has written extensively for various publications in the global marketplace. Writing is not only her passion but also her instrument of worship. 

Suzane has a deep desire to reveal the Father’s heart through her writings so that every reader cultivates a deeper intimacy with Jesus and steps into their God-given identity. She believes Intimacy strengthens Identity! 

Suzane also writes devotions on social media for her church, Destiny C3 Subang. She recently completed her first book, Sent To Journey – Devotions for the Traveller, and is pursuing publishing opportunities. Contact Suzane through her website at www.suzaneavadiar.com or on her Facebook page.

Book Review - 'Liturgy of the Ordinary' by Tish Harrison Warren

Review by Paula Vince

Many of us go through the day feeling like we don't have time for God. But God can become present to us in surprising ways through our everyday routines. Framed around one ordinary day, this book explores daily life through the lens of liturgy, small practices and habits that form us. Each chapter looks at something making the bed, brushing her teeth, losing her keys that the author does in the day. Drawing from the diversity of her life as a campus minister, Anglican priest, friend, wife, and mother, Tish Harrison Warren opens up a practical theology of the everyday. Each activity is related to a spiritual practice as well as an aspect of our Sunday worship. Come and discover the holiness of your every day.

MY THOUGHTS:
This book was just what I needed.

I love its emphasis on rhythms, routines, cycles, rituals, or whatever else we like to call those things we repeat over and over again. Our lives are full of daily, monthly, seasonal and annual repetition. Tish Harrison Warren sets out to explain how there's holiness and dignity in what we easily dismiss as mundane and tedious.

It's structured in the form of a random, typical day from her calendar, beginning with waking up and ending with going to sleep again. She presents fresh ways of thinking of all these moments, and I'll mention just a couple.

In the chapter on bed making, she describes how she used to begin each day checking emails and social media. (That looks very familiar, before my feet hit the floor.) Then she realised that she'd set herself up to expect stimulation and entertainment from the get-go. If you're like me, we're gently encouraged to welcome a bit of quiet sameness, and not to bolt away from mild boredom the moment we get a whiff of it.

There's a chapter on cleaning teeth and all those other mindless rituals which remind us that we're temples of the Holy Spirit. She delivers some good, straight talk here. Using our bodies for false worship is akin to using consecrated bread and wine in a Wiccan goddess ceremony. And denigrating our bodies by our mirrors is like running down a geographical sacred site. Yeah, sometimes we need of dose of this.

The 'Eating Leftovers' chapter leads to an interesting reflection that apart from occasional delicious feasts that wow our socks off, most of our home cooked meals are pretty basic, unremarkable fare, just like the grace of God appears to be. We've been conditioned in our modern era to want the spiritual intensity of meals cooked by celebrity chefs. People who attend church services and conferences are often longing for new truths, emotional experiences, signs and miracles. But life is just made up of good, nourishing food. If we are tempted to equate our scriptures with boring, dry old bread, well she advises us to just keep getting stuck into them anyway, because we'll develop a palate for the truth.

A chapter entitled 'Checking Emails' is about the attitude in which we approach our work. It's easy to be a Martha in our technology driven world, when work is always at hand. Or we can go to the opposite extreme and totally idolise the notion of complete escapism. Warren recommends something in the middle. We do our daily work from a relaxed, peaceful attitude of already being blessed, rather than a mad scramble to prove ourselves worthy. This will help combine the activity of Martha with the reflectiveness of Mary.

The other chapters are equally thought provoking. Losing the car keys, the pleasure of a cup of tea, getting stuck in traffic jams. It all brought home to me how much repetition we have to cope with, so we might as well make peace with it and consider all these routines to be sacred privileges, instead of grumbling about them and considering them to be annoyances. It's a book I'll be wanting to dip into more often just to remind myself.

Thanks to Net Galley and InterVarsity Press for my review copy.

5 stars

Paula Vince is a South Australian author of contemporary, inspirational fiction. She lives in the beautiful Adelaide Hills, with its four distinct seasons, and loves to use her environment as settings for her stories. Her novel, 'Picking up the Pieces' won the religious fiction section of the International Book Awards in 2011, and 'Best Forgotten' was winner of the CALEB prize the same year. She is also one of the four authors of 'The Greenfield Legacy', Australia's first and only collaborated Christian novel. Her most recent novel, 'Imogen's Chance' was published April 2014. For more of Paula's reflections, you may like to visit her book review blog, The Vince Review

Harsh Winter

By Keona Tann

For Tasmanians our winter season can be harsh and seem to drag on endlessly. We battle cold mornings, frost, grey rainy days and even snow, hail and bitterly cold winds at times.

I was at the beach one cloudy wintery morning and the sun was desperately trying to break through. I could see a patch of blue sky and it spoke to me of the promise of the end of winter. A few days later I went to my backyard and looked at my bare, seemingly barren, fruit trees. With a clear blue sky up above I was again reminded that one day soon the fruit tree will bloom and bear fruit again.

The last 2 years have been one of my winter seasons. As I've battled illnesses and disease I feel like that barren fruit tree. I have faced a heartbreaking hat trick - I've been stripped of my health, lost my job due to my illness and lost our beloved family dog.

So many times I've wondered if my winter season will ever come to an end. With the seasons of the world we know when their end period is. We can mark on the calendar the coming of a new season and count down the days. But when facing a season of illness or hardship we have no known end date. We are simply left to hope and pray that it will end soon! Just like the patch of blue sky breaking through the dark clouds, we can find moments of small breakthrough. We can hold onto those moments as promises that the season will end, that we will soon embrace our blue sunny days!

I was comforted to be told, by God, that I am a daffodil bulb. He showed me how the flowers need to hide as they are too delicate to contend with the harsh winter conditions. We too need to hide ourselves in God, as in Psalm 62:5 “Find rest, O my soul, in God alone.” So rather than give up hope, just like the daffodil, I will snuggle down into the ‘dirt’, germinating and waiting for the right time to bloom!

Pruning
Not only do fruit trees need to contend with the harsh winter conditions but ALSO with pruning!!!

God spoke to me about submitting to the pruning season in life. We have been truly blessed with our lovely fruit trees and the first year we had wonderful amounts of fruit. The next year, due to my illness, I was unable to prune the trees and my husband was too busy working full time and caring for the family. So guess what?! The poor trees bore less fruit. The following year was the same and they bore even less fruit. You see the pruning season is vital! You have to remove the dead limbs so that new life and fruit can spring forth. For us the pruning season can be long and painful but, through my fruit trees, God revealed that it's vital! That for me to bear good fruit I need to remove the 'dead' stuff in my life. The stuff that's hindering my fruit from coming forth!

After you've pruned your fruit tree it looks so sad, so barren and dead. But excitingly spring comes and suddenly small buds form, a blossom blooms, leaves form and finally the fruit tree bears fruit!

Training
I'm fortunate to have very smart family members- an embalmer; a hydraulics engineer; a minister; 2 doctors; a brother in law with many degrees; a qualified builder; a psychologist and a teacher. Now the common factor they all have is that it took time, energy, study, practice and hard work to achieve.

I'm struck down by the thought that my years of hardship (pruning) were my training years! What happened during that period? Time passed (even if it felt like it dragged); knowledge and wisdom was imparted; my heart was softened and my spirit strengthen! All the prayers went before me; all the verses I spoke over my life paved the way; all the events I attended broke ground; all the tasks that I completed weren't in vain and the little faith that, I held onto through all that, begins to bloom abundantly!

Studying can be hard, boring and seem pointless at times. But if you're where you are right now because you have felt called or because you're simply trying to move forward in something. Can I encourage you that it's NOT in vain! You will one day, hopefully soon, realize why you're where you are right now.

Do what you can when you can!

This mantra has been mine during my illness. Some days the 'what I can' is almost nothing. Some days the 'when I can' is almost non-existent. But small acts of faith can achieve great results! God can take our 'little' and grow it beyond our wildest dreams! It may seem like an insignificant baby step but rejoice that ANY step forward is progress! Rejoice that it means you're just a little bit closer to that dream!

If you're in the winter season know that spring comes! The harsh winter ends! If you're in the pruning season know that you will bloom gorgeous blossoms and bear sweet fruit! Whichever process you're in now take hold of Gods promises!

Keona Tann has lived most of her life in the beautiful Australian state - Tasmania. She has been married to her college sweetheart for over 20 years. Keona and her husband consider themselves extremely blessed to be raising 2 wonderful teenagers. They have also been long time child sponsors with Compassion. Keona's working life has seen her develop over 15 years of customer service experience. Health issues have plagued her for 28 years and over the past 2 years have been severely debilitating. Seeking direction from God her passion for writing was recently reignited. Writing the following mission statement: "I desire to impact the world through the words I share. I long to enrich, empower and encourage others whilst delivering my stories with empathy and understanding." she hopes to launch her new career soon.

Creative Nonfiction Part 1 - Nola Passmore

If It's Creative and Nonfiction, Does That Mean We Make It Up?

I once went on a mission trip to Mexico as part of Youth With A Mission.  Our first outreach in Guadalajara was organised by a group of Christian women who wanted to share the gospel in their neighbourhood.  We performed some dramas to a crowd of about forty to fifty.  Then one of the local pastors preached a short message and asked people to indicate if they’d like to receive Christ.  The entire group came forward for prayer.  It was an incredibly moving experience and we were full of praise and thanks to God. 

Although everything I’ve just told you is true, it’s not presented in a particularly interesting way.  The version I had published in one of the Aussie Stories books began like this:

‘It was hot and humid; the air so thick we got puffed just walking around.  Our heavy black tracksuit pants didn’t help.  Every movement was an effort.  We were about to do our first street performance in Mexico.’

Do you think that opening is an improvement?  We know how the weather affected the people and that helps us visualise the scene.  But if it’s so hot, why are they wearing heavy black pants?  Oh they’re about to do a street performance.  So are they a drama team?  A flash mob?  Buskers?  What are they doing in Mexico? Hopefully those questions draw the reader in and make him or her want to learn more.

We come across examples of creative nonfiction all the time—magazine and newspaper feature articles, biographies and memoirs, devotional writing—but what are the distinctives of this genre?

Lee Gutkind defines creative nonfiction as ‘true stories well told’.  The ‘creative’ part refers to all of the usual literary techniques that creative writers employ (e.g. show don’t tell, the five senses, vivid imagery, engaging dialogue, action, character development, use of scenes), but the ‘nonfiction’ part tells us that these stories could be verified in much the same way a reporter would fact-check a news story.  It’s not the same as a novel or screenplay ‘based on a true story’, where the reader or viewer knows some poetic licence has been taken.  Creative nonfiction is true, but the stories are told in an engaging way.

Let’s start with an exercise.  Think of an event from your past that has some significance for you and write a ‘no-frills’ version that just covers the facts.  Then revise it using some of the literary tools noted above.  Consider the following tale:

‘My husband and I went on a bus tour of Italy.  Our first stop was Rome and we couldn’t believe how dangerous it was to drive down the streets.  Girls with no protective clothing would ride Vespas in between buses.  One of our tour guides used to stand behind the bus driver and hold on with just one hand.  I was worried she might fall and hurt herself.’

Boring!  How could it be jazzed up, while still getting across the facts?  Think about it first and then click here to find the actual excerpt from a travel story I had published.  One of the things you’ll notice is that I’ve used exaggeration as a humorous device.  Is that okay?  Didn’t I say earlier that creative nonfiction has to be true?  In the next two weeks, I’ll look more specifically at techniques used in creative nonfiction and give guidelines for navigating some of the grey areas.   

In the meantime, I’d be interested in hearing about the best nonfiction pieces you’ve read and what made them so appealing?

Sources:

Gutkind, L.  (2012).  You can’t make this stuff up: The complete guide to writing creative nonfiction from memoir to literary journalism and everything in between.  Boston, MA: Da Capo Press.

 Passmore, N. L.  (2009).  Mexican encounter.  In D. Dixon (Ed.), Aussie stories (pp. 145-148).  Sydney: Strand.

 Passmore, N. L.  (2014).  Vespas, wheelchairs, and the metamorphosis of Alberto.  In J. Cooper, B. Morton, J. Spencer & C. Tuovinen (Eds.), Tales from the upper room: Tabor Adelaide anthology 2014 (pp. 12-19).  Saint Marys, South Australia: Immortalise.

Nola Passmore is a freelance writer who has had more than 140 short pieces published, including devotionals, true stories, magazine articles, academic papers, poetry and short fiction.  She loves sharing what God has done in her life and encouraging others to do the same.  She and her husband Tim have their own freelance writing and editing business called The Write Flourish.  You can find her weekly writing tips blog at their website: http://www.thewriteflourish.com.au