Breakfast of Champions: Wednesday 31st March

Good morning, Champion.

Today is a great day

Zechariah 4:10a
For who has despised the day of small things?

Psalm 118:24
This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

We have been looking at subject of not despising the day of small things or beginnings, but daring to look at them through the lenses of faith and wisdom, to see the 'future harvest' contained in the 'present seed' of what could be just a seemingly-small thing.

Notice the verse from Zechariah speaks of not despising the day of small things. The day you are in is a great day when you choose to live and see things by faith. Every mighty oak tree comes from a small acorn, every conquered mountain starts with one small step taken in the right direction. When we commit to live in God's never-failing principle of seed, time and harvest. We sign up for living in three individual seasons – at any given time we can be in any one of the three.

The time of small beginnings, when the seed is all we see, is when you have not got any harvest to see or experience, but it is a vital time. The big tomorrow you're dreaming of is dependant upon your faithfulness in this moment of time.

Then there is the day or time when you wait – remember, the Bible says that we are to imitate those who by faith and patience inherit promises, those who know how to believe and wait, not just those who know how to believe.

Then comes the day of harvest, or manifestation of what was dreamt of, where we behold what we have spent time sowing and waiting patiently for. This is a great day, but face it – everyday is a great day when you know you are living in the system of seed – time – harvest.

Too many people are not happy unless they see harvest or touch the oak tree. God wants us to be bigger than this and be people who do not despise (loath, get annoyed by) the day when things are seemingly small. Don't despise the day you are in, Champion. If you are living by God's principle of 'seed – time – harvest' then today (when you sow the seed and wait) is a great day, not just tomorrow (when you see the harvest). Close your eyes and imagine the harvest that will be, then open your eyes and smile at the seemingly small seed that will produce it. You never see annoyed, frustrated farmers sowing their seeds because they know how it works – they sow, they wait, they harvest. Let's learn from them when it comes to growing things in our world.

Don't despise the day of seemingly small things – you will one day walk through the orchards your deeds, faith and patience have produced.

Andy
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Breakfast of Champions: Tuesday 30th March

Good morning, Champion.

Thoughts are like seeds

2 Corinthians 10:6 (NKJV)
Casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.

We spoke yesterday about not despising the day of small beginnings, and noted that every mighty oak tree starts its journey as a tiny acorn. When we understand that everything big in our lives, whether positive or negative in context, starts small and seedlike we can begin to determine and manage some of the harvests we are continually growing.

Thoughts are like seeds – they start so seemingly small but can produce so very much. The greatest multi-million pound companies in existence today started as a single thought in the mind of an individual; a thought that the owner had the choice to act on and allow to germinate, or to disregard. It's the thoughts we allow to germinate that are what determine the future harvests and destinations of our life. Again, this can be positive or negative because thoughts have the potential to contain or carry both. Today our church is experiencing incredible growth and success and we have planted out other churches and ministries, and in some ways it is like an oak tree sustaining the life of many others. I look around and am amazed at what God has done and is doing but I am also reminded where it all started: a thought came into my mind just over thirteen years ago as I was driving home from a meeting, a simple thought that could have been easily ignored – "start a church in Portsmouth". I allowed that thought to stay in the ground of my mind and germinate in my heart, believing it to be a God thought. That thought was the acorn of the tree which now is called Family Church – that was a positive thought!

Thoughts are so powerful, they can take you where you have never been before or destroy you! Think of King David and the whole mess he got himself into with Bathsheba. He ended up committing adultery, had an innocent man killed, and produced a child in sin that would sadly die. Where did that journey of pain for him and others start? With a single thought on a roof top (2 Samuel 11). Whilst he should have been at war with the men, he was at home, and looked over the balcony to see something he shouldn't have: a UFO (undressed feminine object). There, in that moment, a thought came – he had a choice with what to do with that thought. Sadly he chose to let it germinate and a pathway of pain was created. God's grace was greater than his sin but still, it never needed to happen. Our text today gives us some good advice concerning the seeds of thought – bring every one of them under what God says is true and right, then we can be certain of great things that bless others being the produced from our thought life.

Think about what you're thinking about!

Andy
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Breakfast of Champions: Monday 29th March

Good morning, Champion.

Seeds become harvests

Zechariah 4:10a
For who has despised the day of small things?

What a great question to start the day with. According to the dictionary, to despise is to 'regard with contempt, loath, to hold as "seemingly insignificant"'. A great key to remember is to never look at small things or beginnings as insignificant, but rather by faith always dare to see their future potential. Because the bottom line is that everything that is one day great starts as something that is seemingly small –every mighty oak tree starts its journey as a small acorn.

We all want the great "oak trees" and the successes that come with them, but we need to understand and always commit to the process of getting them. This process is seen in Genesis 8:22 and is called seedtime and harvest. To actually understand this principle you need to take it from being two words or components to being three: seed-time-harvest! Every great thing – whether a church, business or project – starts seemingly small, like a seed in your hand. Then comes time – this is the one we often try to remove so we get straight to harvest, but it is in this component that things gain their strength and root themselves for permanence. Then finally comes harvest – this is when we see before us what we first dreamed of when we held that seemingly small seed.

Seeds produce Harvests
This reality can work both positively and negatively in our lives and when we understand that fact we can begin to manage, remove and design some of the harvests we experience in life. Everything starts as a seed – great ideas and dreams but also deceptions, delusions and habits. They all start seemingly small. One of the keys to being a leader in life is to be a seed spotter – someone who can recognise things that have the potential to produce harvest and manage them when they are still seeds. In a positive context this would be to nurture and protect its growth, and in a negative context this would be to get rid of delusions and deception and habits when they are still small and manageable. Remember, if you don't deal with the seed you will deal with the harvest! Even the devil understood this principle – notice that when he came after both Moses and Jesus to destroy them he came after them as babies (seeds). Why? Because he knew that would be a lot easier than dealing with the harvest that their fully grown lives would produce. He did not succeed and Jesus became that grain of wheat that caused an ever-enlargening harvest to be triggered, of which we are a part (John 12:24).

What seeds need to be managed in your life today?

Andy
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Breakfast of Champions: Friday 26th March

Here's your Friday fry-up, Champion!

Create capacity for God

2 Kings 4:3-6 (NKJV)
Then he said, "Go, borrow vessels from everywhere, from all your neighbors—empty vessels; do not gather just a few. And when you have come in, you shall shut the door behind you and your sons; then pour it into all those vessels, and set aside the full ones." So she went from him and shut the door behind her and her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured it out. Now it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said to her son, "Bring me another vessel." And he said to her, "There is not another vessel." So the oil ceased.

Yet another classic account of God supernaturally supplying increase into the life of someone responding in to Him in faith. If you get a chance read this whole account there are some great lessons in it. In brief you see the prophet turn up in this widow's moment of great need, and he then instructs her to use the apparent little (jar of oil) in her life to cause the breakthrough she needed. He tells her to gather empty vessels. She did what he said and returned with as many as her reasoning would let her believe God would fill. She then began to tip the small jar of oil and each empty vessel was filled. She filled to the brim every empty vessel, then the moment came that the oil stopped.

If she knew before the miracle what she knew after the miracle she certainly would have got a lot more vessels than what she did. This account also shows us that the limitation was not an issue of what God was willing to give, but rather one of provided capacity – when the capacity was no more the pouring stopped. Let us be inspired by this to always make sure we are creating capacity for God to fill – in our lives, our situations, and indeed our churches. I don't want God to have to stop pouring out His good stuff, how about you? For this to happen we need to take responsibility to be ever creating capacity or more space for Him.

When we consider our lives there are two ways of making more space for God to keep on pouring:

Commit to being stretched – like the tent in Isaiah 54, allow God to keep stretching you because as He does He increases your capacity, making you able to contain more of what He has for you.
Commit to emptying some old stuff out – imagine a glass is full of water and rocks: when the glass is full to the brim with water you can quite righty say it is full; but if you take out some of the rocks you create new space and give the glass new capacity. As you walk with God you regulary become aware of things that do not need to be in your life anymore. Have the courage, Champion, to empty out some old clothes in the wardrobe of your life to make room for some new ones that God has for you. Create some space for God to fill.
How much spare room is there today in the vessel of your life? How can you go about creating more capacity? Know that whatever space you create, God is more than able to fill.

Bless you,

Andy
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Breakfast of Champions: Thursday 25th March

Good morning, Champion.

Defining moments always leave you with a choice

1 Samuel 16:11–13 (NIV)
So he asked Jesse, "Are these all the sons you have?" "There is still the youngest," Jesse answered, "but he is tending the sheep." Samuel said, "Send for him; we will not sit down until he arrives." So he sent and had him brought in. He was ruddy, with a fine appearance and handsome features. Then the LORD said, "Rise and anoint him; he is the one." So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the LORD came upon David in power. Samuel then went to Ramah.

David had a choice to make in this moment with the prophet. His life had been totally redefined, anointed and empowered. If you take time to read the storyline leading up to this point you'll see it was a powerful day for the young shepherd boy David, where everything suddenly changed in a moment. Hours before he was sitting, unnoticed by man, on a hillside tending sheep; suddenly his whole life is redefined to being that of a future king.

The prophet did three things for David that day that revolutionised His life.

1. He brought the word of God to him and it was that which redefined him.
2. He anointed him with oil.
3. He gave him the promise of a God-empowered future.

These three things have happened to each of us too: His word revealing our true identity and potential has come to us in the vehicle of the Bible; His spirit has been poured upon us as anointing oil was upon David that day; and the commission has been given to go and live like we have never lived before.

These three things created a powerful defining moment for David to experience a call to a brand new, bigger life. All that was left to do for this new life to start was for David to make a decision – a simple decision that we to also have to make when God gives us a defining moment: "Do I go back to what I knew, to that which previously defined me, or do I go forward into the life that God has called and qualified me for?"

He could have ignored the word, the anointing and the sending, and gone back to the hillside to the sheep and spent the rest of his days doing what he had always done. But no, he chose to live forward from his moment when God had redefined him. We too must choose to live forward in what God has spoken over our lives, and know that the anointing has broken every yoke or restriction on us too. As we daily, like David did, step out into what God has called us to do we will know the empowerment of the Spirit to live that great big life God promised.

David had all of the 'man-made wheel clamps' taken off the car of his life that day, and as you read on you see that he responded by putting his life in gear and moving forward into his God future. He never stayed parked up and neither should you.

Make sure that it is the word of God that is defining your life, and nothing or no one else!

Bless you,

Andy
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Breakfast of Champions: Wednesday 24th March

Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be broken!

Sometimes getting through the wall at hand is about daring to re-shape yourself for what is needed.

Mark 10:24-26 (NIV)
The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, "Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."

We have been speaking about walls, specifically those sent to stop us or crush us, that God says will not prosper. Our challenge is always to get to the other side of them. Sometimes that is about finding the ladder to get you over, or digging a tunnel that will get you under. But other times it is about looking at the shape you need to be to get through it! Referring back to the game show I mentioned called Bring on the Wall, success for the contestants is based on their abilty to reshape themselves to the cut out in the wall that is coming toward them. Their flexibility to reshape for each new wall is what gives them the success every time.

We need to always be flexible enough to reshape ourselves to take on the position needed to get through the wall at hand. Maybe that position is prayer, or praise, or maybe standing in faith? Today's text confused me for many of my younger years – I would sit there as a kid thinking, "How can a camel get through the eye of a sowing needle?" Then one day I found out Jesus was referring to one of the gates into Jerusalem, one of the gates that would get the traders and salesmen of the day through the wall and into the city to trade. It was so narrow that they would have to unpack their camels to get the camels through, then repack them the other side. That made so much more sense to my over active imagination!

Hey, Champion – to go where God is leading you next may mean you need to unpack, or shed some stuff – baggage you no longer need!

We should be ever shedding stuff on our pilgrimage with God: attitudes, habits and stuff that wont do us any good where we are going next. Lighten your load, go through the wall at hand into the next chapter of your God-ordained adventure. You wont even miss the stuff you leave behind because of the lightness you will know!

Andy
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Breakfast of Champions: Tuesday 23rd March

Good morning, Champion.

What was sent to ruin turned out really well

Genesis 50:19-21 (NKJV)
Joseph said to them, "Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God? But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive. Now therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones." And he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.

We have been speaking about defining moments and how "walls" sent to crush or ruin us can actually be the things that can redefine us and leave us in a better place than where we were before. It certainly worked that way for David, Nehemiah and Joshua. Sometimes the timing is the thing that makes it a little more confusing, but it is then that we have to believe in the bigger picture of what is presently happening, not the current moment we find ourselves in.

It was certainly this way for Joseph. When you read through his life it looks like he gets hit by one stinking wall after another; but none of the walls crushed him. Rather they redefined and often repositioned him for God's bigger picture plan. If he lived and judged everything by the individual moments he experienced it would have given him a nervous breakdown! No, he trusted God that each wall-like moment, and each individual victory, was a part of a bigger plan that would one day make sense.

And it did – the text that we read this morning was from the moment when Joseph is now Prime Minister, second in charge in the nation, and his brothers were now bowing before him begging provision, not knowing who he was – including the ones who actually started his confusing, rollercoaster journey to latter-day success by throwing him in a pit to die, then selling him on as a slave.

This moment is where Joseph speaks out of the bigger picture that he knew God had been painting the whole time: "But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive."

When God is in it you will win it, Champion. What a picture of grace – the one they did bad to ended up being the one who would save them. Don't judge everything by the walls or challenges you may be facing today, but trust God you are in a picture that will one day make a lot of life-giving sense.

Andy
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Breakfast of Champions: Monday 22nd March

Good morning, Champion.

"Bring on the wall!"

Isaiah 54:17 (NIV)
No weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and this is their vindication from me," 
declares the LORD.

A life lived on purpose will always attract differing walls of opposition, especially when the purpose being lived is all about what God is wanting to do. The walls always come to stop or crush what God is doing through you, but let us remind ourselves concerning the destiny God says these walls or momentary challenges have: "they will not prosper or prevail!" But our faith shall prevail, this is our heritage as servants of the Lord.

The Bible is full of people who came up against walls of opposition on their pilgrimages of faith, but each one chose to see them as walls of opportunity. That choice is ours as we face the walls that may be standing in our way – will we see them as opposition sent to crush or stop us, or as walls of opportunity sent to redefine us into a greater measure of success and reputation?

Nehemiah had to deal with the very physical walls of Jerusalem. No one else would take responsibility for them but he did, and in taking on those broken down walls with a heart for their restoration he redefined himself in the sight of the people as more than a cupbearer to the king. He was now a national leader, even in the sight of his enemies. Will you take on a wall (kingdom task) for God that others are ignoring and moaning about the condition it is in?

Think also about Joshua and the walls of Jericho; they too were very real walls that stood before him and what God had for Israel next. He did not reverse in fear but went forwards in faith. The walls that were there to stop him actually crumbled before him and defined him as a man of faith, a man who could trust God in seemingly impossible situations.

It's all about perspective – how you choose to look at the walls that are in your life today. Yes, they could be walls of opposition, but at the very same time they could be walls of opportunity that, when you find your way over or through them, will leave you redefined in the sight of man. It's how you look at it really – I am choosing to look at them as challenges that contain the potential to make me more than I am now, so "bring on the wall!"

If God is for me (and He is) who can be against me!

Andy
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Breakfast of Champions: Friday 19th March

Good morning, Champion.

What was sent to crush you can actually redefine you

Isaiah 54:17 (NKJV)
No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue which rises against you in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is from Me," Says the LORD.

If you look at the meaning of the word used here for weapon, among other things it means article or object. God's promise to you today is that no article, object or thing that is sent against you, because you're living for Him, will prosper. Notice it does not promise that things won't be sent, but it does promise they will not prosper or accomplish what they were sent to.

Life is very much like a game show we have in the UK called Bring on the Wall. In it contestants stand on the edge of a pool and, as lights suddenly flash, a wall comes at them with the purpose of knocking them into the pool and out of the game. Cut into every new unique wall that comes at them during the competition is a unique body shape, and if the contestant can shape himself to fit it he goes through the wall and is not crushed by it. If he gets through the wall it does not ruin him; in fact the wall actually defines him as a winner, leaving him in a better position in the game than what he was before.

Listen, just like that show, when you choose to live for God you will get wall after wall come at you, but none of them have to crush you. Rather, each one of them can actually redefine you. The art is to be able to reshape yourself to go through each new and varied one.

Think of David: his future as a king and national leader was the other side of a very real wall, a wall of a man called Goliath. This wall did not crush him as the Philistines intended; rather, it redefined him as a leader in the sight of all who watched. All he had to do was follow God's plan for getting through it and reshape himself from that of a shepherd boy to that of a covenant warrior.

Listen, Champ, your wall (current challenge) may be different to mine but God has promised us both they will not crush us as they were sent to do but rather redefine us. Spend some time with God and find your way through it, knowing that after this one there will be another and you will reshape and beat that one too.

Bless you,

Andy
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Breakfast of Champions: Thursday 18th March

Good morning, Champion.

Believers or Disciples?

Matthew 28:19 (NKJV)
Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

"Go into the world and make disciples" – I was challenged again by this verse this weekend at our Empower Conference. One of the speakers preached on this verse and inspired us concerning the great challenge found within it, how like so many other truths in the Bible, the power can sometimes be 'lost in our translation'.

He then threw out a big challenge that I want to throw out to you now: "are we busy getting people to be disciples or just believers?" Are we inspiring people to just believe in Jesus and that's it, or to be disciples (followers of Him in their daily lives)? The truth is, before we look at 'them' we need to dare to look at ourselves and apply this worthy challenge to where we are presently at with God. Are we just believers? Jesus never told us to make, or merely be, believers but rather disciples. Why? There can sometimes be a big difference between the two –think about it, you can believe in something and actually do nothing about it. To believe in something takes no real effort, just decisions. But to be a follower or disciple of something or someone means you daily commit to be transformed into their likeness and live out a life that looks like theirs.

Compared to being a disciple, being a believer can be really easy but it is not enough to change a world. Believers see their world changed; disciples do as well but they also change the worlds of others. Jesus is looking for people who, yes, believe in Him, but then take it further and leave their comfort zones and become disciples (followers of Him). Don't get me wrong, both go to heaven – because all you need to do to be saved is believe in Jesus – but not both live a life that is the adventure Jesus invited us all to experience. Disciples step out of their own saved worlds for the benefit of others.

How about you, Champion – are you a Believer or are you a Disciple? Are you a daily follower of Jesus, living out His life for all to see? May we, like Paul, be able to daily say, "Follow me as I follow Christ".

Bless you,

Andy
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Breakfast of Champions: Wednesday 17th March

Good morning, Champion.

Manage your busy-ness

Luke 10:41–52 (NIV)
Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."

The warning here for us all is, be careful not to let busy-ness, worries and upset about things keep you from what is better.

Martha was busy balancing chores and all the work of having many dinner guests, and had taken her eye off of the One who makes life work well. Whenever you take your eyes off Jesus and forget to take that desire-based time to sit at His feet, worry and upset about things soon re-appear and seek to dominate your attention and time, and drain you of your peace.

God does not want you living worried but rather living secure. Security is a result of faith and faith is found at the feet of the Master.

If today you are upset or worried about things the best thing you can do is what Martha did, which is to STOP! Get yourself away somewhere quiet and sit at His feet again with empty hands and an open heart. Worship Him, listen to His words of life and you watch. That worry will simply wash away.

Jesus taught a lot about the destructive force of worry and how we should live without it in Luke 12. He taught that it cannot add anything to your life, but only detract from it. Resting in the presence of Jesus, unlike worry, will always add to your life so why not hang out with Him instead. That will be time well spent.

Like Mary, know how to chill out with Jesus when you need to.

Andy
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Breakfast of Champions: Tuesday 16th March

Good morning, Champion.

Remember what is essential!

Luke 10:38-42 (The Message)
A woman by the name of Martha welcomed him and made him feel quite at home. She had a sister, Mary, who sat before the Master, hanging on every word he said. But Martha was pulled away by all she had to do in the kitchen. Later, she stepped in, interrupting them. "Master, don't you care that my sister has abandoned the kitchen to me? Tell her to lend me a hand." The Master said, "Martha, dear Martha, you're fussing far too much and getting yourself worked up over nothing. One thing only is essential, and Mary has chosen it—it's the main course, and won't be taken from her."

There is a time for being a super servant like Martha. Great churches are built by faithful 'Martha'-type servants that serve with a passion long after others have gone home. Jesus was not rebuking this servant-hearted way of living but He was just gently reminding her not to let her hard work become a distraction for what is essential.

What was essential to Martha that day is essential to us. What is it? It is taking time to sit at the feet of the Lord and let His every word wash all over you. This is what Jesus regarded as essential and so should we.

This should be essential to us first of all because:

1. He deserves our undisturbed attention whenever He wants it.

2. When we learn to sit at His feet when we discover that it is there that we receive the wisdom and strength to serve like He has called us to.

I don't know about you, Champion, but honestly I find it easier to be like Martha than Mary. I know other people who have a problem getting away from Jesus feet and they don't do anything. This isn't right either but I suppose it comes down to how you are wired? One thing I have resolved in my heart is that I am going to take more time in my daily life to sit at His feet as Mary did. Why? Because this lovely account in Luke gives me revelation that it is God's will for my life and that I will actually be a better servant (Martha) if I do.

Two thoughts for you to chew on today:

1. How about you - are you a stronger Mary or Martha? Which sister do you need to emulate a little more in your life?

2. If spending time is the essential thing then that makes it the main thing. Commit with me in the midst of a busy world to keep the main thing the main thing!

Blessings,

Andy
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Breakfast of Champions: Monday 15th March

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We need to make sure that the things we find ourselves busy with are the
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Good Morning Champion

=TIS THE SEASON TO BE MARY =
(Sounds like a well known Christmas carol. Doesn't it?)

Luke 10: 38 – 42 (NKJV)
Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a
certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. 39 And she had a
sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus' feet and heard His word. 40 But
Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said,
"Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore
tell her to help me."
41 And Jesus answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and
troubled about many things. 42 But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen
that good part, which will not be taken away from her."

Jesus arrives at the house of His friends Mary and Martha, the sisters of
Lazarus. He is there to spend quality time with them. He was not there for a
party, he just wanted to spend time with them. He knew that the cross and
its torment lay ahead and maybe he was just popping in to be with friends as
He prepared for the hard time He knew that lay before Him.

We are then introduced to two different ladies with two very different
temperaments. First let's look at Mary. The Scripture says that straight
away she stopped what she was doing to sit at His feet and hear His words.
Next we meet sister Martha whose response to her visitor was to hit the
kitchen and start preparing a meal which was very a very common thing to do
in middle eastern culture.

The problem was not with her hospitality but with the distraction she
allowed it to cause in her life. She gets all bent out of shape when She
sees Mary sitting at His feet and shares her opinion underlining firmly that
she felt someone in the room was being very lazy.

How surprised she must have been when Jesus commended Mary's apparent
laziness and suggested Martha learn from Mary and do the same.

Was Jesus telling Martha off for serving rather than sitting? No, I don't
think so. What He was communicating to her was that there is a time for
both. We too can learn so much from this account. There is a time for us to
be busy like Martha but also we need to be able to sit at His feet like
Mary.

Should you be more like Mary or Martha? I think the answer is that we need
to be able to be both and know when the moment is right to be whichever is
appropriate or fitting for the season or moment at hand.

Bless You

Andy
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Breakfast of Champions: Friday 12th March

Good morning, Champion. Your breakfast is served.

Live in the measurements of God (cont'd)

Psalm 103:11-12 (NIV)
For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His love for those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.

We looked yesterday at the measurement of God's love towards us who fear Him. I don't know about you but I was both blessed and impressed.

The same Psalm mentions a second measurement that has equal potential to redefine and revolutionize your walk with God and your day-to-day experience of this thing called Christianity. It is the measurement concerning the extent of God's forgiveness toward our sins and transgressions. How forgiven are we and what's the measurement?

According to God's Word the measurement for the removal of our sins is "as far as the east is from the west". Would you be able to measure that? No, nor would I, because that's a long way. Let's face it there is bound to be some bright spark right now that could give the exact measurement of the divide between the east and the west of planet earth. Here is my thought: what if God was not speaking of the measurements of a singular planet but rather the entire universe? Now that really is a big, old measurement. It makes sense to me, because the measurement He used to describe His love for us left the limiting boundaries of just planet earth, (as far as the heavens are above the earth) so why would the boundaries of His forgiveness of our sins not follow the same track?

I suppose the choice is yours whether to view it as the east and west of the earth or the universe but I will go ahead and choose the universe because in that option is the possibility of infinity!

The bottom line this morning is to realise and accept that Jesus did a fantastic job of settling the sin issue for you by providing His life as settlement for its full requirements, and in doing so He removed it far, far away. Righteousness reigns where there is no sin, so go ahead and today let righteousness reign in your life!

Think about those two measurements and apply them to your life today and tomorrow and hey, why not the rest of your life.

Bless you,

Andy
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Breakfast of Champions: Thursday 11th March

Good morning Champion Live in the measurements of God. Psalm 103:11-12 (NIV) For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; 12 as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us In this Psalm we are given two God -ordained measurements that when we get a revelation of them can change our lives forever. The first measurement deals with the vastness of His love towards us-- “as high as the heavens are above the earth”. Stick your head out of the window and look up. Can you see the heavens? Work out that measurement if you can? No, His love is far beyond what you will ever have the human ability to measure. Interesting terminology here in this verse, “as far as the heavens are from the earth”. I was walking today and thinking about how extreme that measurement is and I felt the Lord say to me, “That is the length of the journey Jesus travelled to save you.” Wow, it’s true. Think about that, for love sake, Jesus laid aside His crown of majesty in the heaven to come save me and you on the earth. That’s a long way and that’s a big love! Let’s look at the same thought put another way by Paul the Apostle. Romans 8:38-39 (NIV) For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. God’s love is not small, breakable or fallible. Reside again today in that love that can neither be broken or humanly measured. Bless you. Andy

Breakfast of Champions: Wednesday 10th March

Good morning, Champion.

Be the miracle

Luke 9:16-17 (NIV)
Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, He gave thanks and broke them. Then He gave them to the disciples to set before the people. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.

Everyone likes to look around for where the next miracle for the moment is going to come from; in reality, sometimes we need to stop and take a look in the mirror and realise that maybe God wants you to be the miracle this time! God is ever-wanting to increase the output and experience of our faith to meet the needs of the world - for this to happen we need to remain committed to be ready to be the vehicle for a miracle when one is needed.

God is the one who provides the power but He always looks for everyday people to be the equipment or apparatus that He uses for the moment at hand. Will you be the equipment, positioned correctly for what God wants to do next?

• Moses was the available equipment God used to liberate a nation that was in slavery.
• David was the available equipment that God used to display His "against all odds" power against Goliath.
• Gideon was the available equipment God used to show that His empowerment on out-numbered armies causes them to win.

God is looking for available equipment to use today. Let me put that another way: He is looking for people to partner with Him in releasing supernatural things on the earth. Fancy working in partnership with a living God today? All you need to do is what the people mentioned already did - make yourself available. Not some bits of yourself, but all of it. Then see what happens when an unrestricted, unlimited God partners with a submitted and yielded, available life.

That is a powerful combo, Champion!

Bless you, live extra large again today.

Andy
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Breakfast of Champions: Tuesday 9th March

Good morning, Champion.

God Wants You to Handle Miracles

Luke 9:12-17 (NIV)
Late in the afternoon the Twelve came to him and said, "Send the crowd away so they can go to the surrounding villages and countryside and find food and lodging, because we are in a remote place here." He replied, "You give them something to eat." They answered, "We have only five loaves of bread and two fish — unless we go and buy food for all this crowd" (about five thousand men were there). But he said to his disciples, "Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each." The disciples did so, and everybody sat down. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke them. Then he gave them to the disciples to set before the people. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.

Here is the classic account of Jesus taking five loaves and two fish, then multiplying them miraculously to feed a multitude of people. We do not know exactly how many; we know that there were about five thousand men, now add wives and children – we can safely say it was a very big need. The disciples' plan was to break up this life-changing event and send the people out to get their own food. This was actually good crowd management, but not what Jesus had in mind for the moment at hand. Jesus had a much more dynamic response to the situation.

His plan served two purposes:

It would take care of the physical needs of the people, because Jesus was genuinely concerned for the welfare of His listeners' physical condition and not just their spiritual one, unlike many of the Pharisees.
He wanted to use this great opportunity to get His team to feel what miracles felt like in their hands!
Jesus had felt miracles in His hands for many months as He demonstrated the power of God to change situations for people. Now He wanted to graduate His disciples to a higher level of experience. So this day, right in the middle of a demanding moment, Jesus says, "I am not doing it, I am going to pray - then it is down to you boys!" He prayed, handed them the supplies, then sat back and watched. As the seemingly little bits of bread and fish left the hands of the disciples they multiplied supernaturally to become exceedingly and abundantly more than what was needed for the moment. Where did this miracle happen? In the disciples' hands!

Listen, Champion - God wants to graduate us today from being spectators of miracles - which is good - to experiencing them in our hands and our lives - which is great. What if the disciples got scared and chose not to join in? They would have missed out on handling miracles for themselves. If we don't join in with Jesus when we have the opportunity we will miss out on handling miracles too. All God needs is willing, courageous hands and a little bit of something to supernaturally increase. How about you? Are you going to let Him do it through your hands today?

All things are possible to those who believe.

Andy
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Breakfast of Champions: Monday 8th March

Good morning, Champion. I pray that this turns out to be a significant week for you.

How's your appetite this morning?

I'm not referring to food but your appetite for God?

Matthew 5:6 (NIV)
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

The Bible says, "Blessed (empowered to prosper, happy) are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness" because it's a great thing to stay hungry for God and for what He loves.

Here are a couple of thoughts to get you thinking this morning:

How hungry are you exactly? Do you want a Scooby snack or a banquet? God is busy setting up a banquet for you and me but so often we settle for a Kit Kat or mere snack. Champion, get hungry - you will never out-eat His provision! How about this one: does your appetite for God get others motivated? When a lady is pregnant she can get some very strange cravings but also knows how to mobilise everyone in her life and world to get her the things she is craving for (I have personal experience of this!). Does your hunger for God and His righteousness motivate and mobilise others in your world to get hungry for Him too?

Does your hunger or appetite for Him get you doing things you would not normally do? Natural hunger mobilises a person, and so does spiritual hunger. When you have an appetite for something it "gets you moving". You get up out of the armchair and go out to get what you are wanting or craving. Whether it be a curry or kebab, you do something about it that appetite. When you are hungry for God it is the same. You get up out of the armchair of apathy to go get what you are desiring. Thank God for appetite - it stops you starving to death.

The promise of God to the hungry is as it says at the end of the verse: "They shall be filled"

How about you, do you want to "be filled" by God? Then it's a simple. Simply maintain and cultivate a great appetite (hunger) for Him and I promise you will not be disappointed! He is not trying to tease you - He is trying to get you hungry so He can satisfy you.

Psalm 107:9 (NIV)
For He satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.

Stay hungry for Him, Champion, and for what He loves.

Andy
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Breakfast of Champions: Friday 5th March

Good morning, Champion.

Don't live to give God a bargain - give Him the best.

2 Samuel 24:24 (NIV)
But the king replied to Araunah, "No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the LORD my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing."

King David was looking for a threshing floor to build an altar to God for worship so that He could break the plague that was on His people (read chapter 24 if this needs more explanation). He approaches Araunah to ask if he can buy what he needs and Araunah offers him everything he needs for absolutely nothing (read verses 21-23). Many of us would have thought, "What a mega bargain. I got that cheap!" But not David. He actually refuses not to pay. Why? Because of his revelation of worship, he knew that worship was all about giving your best not what you have left or got cheaply.

Whenever David gave (worshipped) the Lord anything he always gave him the very best - whether it was time, energy, song or finance. His worship was always based on God's worth to him. That is why he never held back. God meant everything to him.

How about us? Would we take the bargain offer? When it comes to us worshipping the Lord with who we are and what we have, will we give the bare minimum or what is considered normal, or will we be extroverts of worship, like David?

I suppose the only thing we need to really consider to determine the measure of our worship response is what God gave to us in Jesus. Did He hold back or give second best? No, Jesus was the very best and He gave Him for us, which again leaves us with a due response. Purpose in your heart that, like David, you won't give God songs, offerings, service or anything that costs you nothing. As you do, you set yourself up for a very blessed life.

Have a great weekend and don't hold back. Give the King the worship He deserves and not what you got cheap or had left over. When giving to God always remember: if you feel a seed leave your life you will always feel the harvest when it comes back.

Bless you,

Andy
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Breakfast of Champions: Thursday 4th March

Good morning, Champion - breakfast is served.

Be an all-season worshipper

Worship is something we choose to do in every season of life. For most of us, when we were first saved we learned to worship when everything was going well, but often we would stop when it looked like things were not going so well. It is when we grow up in God that we learn to be an 'all-season worshipper'.

We read earlier this week about King David worshipping the Lord in a time of great celebration as they brought the ark of God's presence back into the city. That was truly a great time to "get your praise on". Let's now read an account of David worshipping not from a mountain top but from a valley!

2 Samuel 12:20 (NKJV)
So David arose from the ground, washed and anointed himself, and changed his clothes; and he went into the house of the LORD and worshipped. Then he went to his own house; and when he requested, they set food before him, and he ate.

You have to fully understand what had just happened for you to see the power of his worship on this occasion. This is just moments after the child he had had by his affair with Bathsheba had died. He had spent a long time fasting and crying out to God to save the child he had produced in sin, but the child died. His servants were scared to tell him of the child's death, fearing a bad reaction - but they were surprised by his response when they did. He did not go into a rage but rather got up, washed, and went to God's house and worshipped.

He was indeed an 'all-season worshipper'. Even though things did not go as he wanted, he still worshipped and that's a big challenge, isn't it? What do you do when things don't turn out like you think they should?

He worshipped because his trust was in the Lord. He fully trusted God even beyond what he knew or could reason. When you trust God, worship flows through every season: when things make sense and when they don't. When my mum passed away I couldn't understand why - it certainly was not the result I wanted. But one thing I did do was take David's example, and when I left the hospice I went to the Lord and worshipped. Why? Because I trust Him and, like David, I know that it is in the place of worship that my heart and life are made strong again.

Everyone of us will go through the different seasons of life; purpose not to be a good-time worshipper only, but resolve in your heart that, like David, you will worship Him on the mountain tops, in the valleys, and even in the wilderness . Worship displays your trust in Him!

Worship is the lifestyle we live, not an event we attend.

Have a great day.

Andy
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Breakfast of Champions: Wednesday 3rd March

Good morning, Champion.

Do you stand with the worshippers?

Luke 19:37–40 (NKJV)
Then, as He was now drawing near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen, saying, "'Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the LORD!'
Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!" And some of the Pharisees called to Him from the crowd, "Teacher, rebuke Your disciples." But He answered and said to them, "I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out."

I suppose the challenge here is 'what side of the road are you going to stand on when it comes to giving Jesus the worship He deserves?' Jesus entered the great city of Jerusalem and, as He did, there were a bunch of everyday people on one side that praised Him passionately with loud unashamed voices, while on the other side of the street there were a bunch of religious folk that chose not to join in but rather judge what was happening. When it came to the moment of someone getting corrected for their behaviour, notice that it was the religious, "please turn it down" posse that got it straight between the eyes, not the worshippers.

In all their religious knowledge they could not recognise or appreciate God in their very midst, while at the exact same moment every day people who had had lives changed by Him could not hold back from giving Him what He was due. I pray I am always found with the people who are passionately worshipping, and never with the ones complaining, judging, and moaning about sound levels. How about you?

Finally, my other choice is that I am never going to let a stinking stone take my place. Jesus is destined to be worshipped and what He was saying here is, if we don't voice worship to God, something else in creation will. My response to this is that I am not going to give away the awesome privilege of worshipping my King to any other person, and especially not a rock!

Today, take a moment to celebrate His presence in your life. Today He rides through the alleyways and roads of the Jerusalem of your life. He wanders down the Via Dolarosa of your soul. Make sure at every corner your life is giving Him the praise He is due.

Bless you and live extra large today.

Andy
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Breakfast of Champions: Tuesday 2nd March

Good morning, Champion.

Be a worshipper first of all

2 Samuel 6:16 (NKJV)
Now as the ark of the LORD came into the City of David, Michal, Saul's daughter, looked through a window and saw King David leaping and whirling before the LORD; and she despised him in her heart.

David was indeed a great king, leader and warrior, but he was also a passionate worshipper. I believe the first great thing he was in life was a great worshipper. As a young man he spent years sitting on a hillside as a shepherd, and in that time he developed a passion inside him for worshipping God. He was wise and even when he was king he lived a life of worship because he knew where God had brought him from, and what God had done for him and was now doing through him. We also always need to remember where God has brought us from and what He has done for us and promised for us. When we do, that should be more than enough to ignite our worship to Him.

Some people, namely David's wife Michal, did not appreciate his passion for worship. Did that stop him? No way! He knew his worship was not for her or about her, but it was about his God. I am so grateful that when he was confronted about his 'offensive' worship lifestyle he did not back down; far from it, he announced he would be getting worse!

2 Samuel 6:21-22 (NKJV)
So David said to Michal, "It was before the LORD, who chose me instead of your father and all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of the LORD, over Israel. Therefore I will play music before the LORD. And I will be even more undignified than this, and will be humble in my own sight.

Like David, the worshipping warrior, make sure you are not allowing people or stuff to cause you to tone down your worship, but live to be even more undignified! Like David, make sure your worship ever flows from the knowledge and remembrance of, firstly, who He is and then all that He has done for you. Like David, above every other title that man can give to you, set your heart on being known as a passionate worshipper. If you get that right then every other position and title will naturally come to you by God's doing and appointment. Like David, worship God as the One who sees in you what others can't see. David must have been continually amazed that, when others only ever saw a shepherd boy, God saw a king.

Champion, give God your best worship again today and don't let anyone hold you back.

Andy
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Breakfast of Champions: Monday 1st March

Good morning, Champion - let's look one more time at the responsive returning leper we looked at last week.

Worship is a due response

Luke 17:15-16 (NKJV)
And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan.

When I close my eyes and think of this lone leper, returning to thank Jesus for what He had done for him, I get a lovely picture of it simply being what we call worship. Yes, he was a Samaritan and that meant he was the least likely of the ten to ever worship Jesus for who He was, but that makes it even more powerful. Jesus deserving worship is not a cultural thing but an "everyone who has had their lives changed by Him" thing. I have been challenging you to give God due response in your lives – worship, like faith, is a exactly that: a due response, something that He deserves. He is not only due our worship but the best of it.

Remember, worship is 'worth-ship' (the placing of your worth on someone or something). When you take time in your day to worship God you put your worth on Him; and yes, He so deserves it! A great key to remember is that we do not worship Him firstly for what He does, but for who He is. If you only worship Him for what He does your worship life will be like a rollercoaster. It will be up and down according to the varying situations of your life. But if you worship Him firstly for who He is you can have consistency in your worship that only ever then increases when He does you good in one way or another.

God loves your worship because it is something you choose to give away. It can't be snatched or demanded, rather it is freely given from one to another. Every human has worship in them to give away and you see many give it to differing things and people on a daily basis. Some give their worship to football teams, and others to cars or pop stars. It is good for us to enjoy other things but to always make sure that the best of our worship (our greatest shout of adoration) is reserved for our King, Jesus.

Today, give God what He is due. Give Him your worship; don't just give it because He has done something for you, give it to Him for who He is.

Bless you.

Andy
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