October 2010

Hello Everyone!

I trust all is well with you and that the Fall is proving to be better than you expected! I believe that our best days are ahead of us and that God always, “saves the best for last.”

I wanted to share with you this month on something I feel is key to our success in this hour... every hour. You have probably heard many wonderful teachings on Jabez. Bruce Wilkinson has a terrific best-selling book on ‘The Prayer of Jabez’. It was tremendous and had a wonderful impact, I believe, on the Body of Christ in the area of prayer. The subject is only mentioned the one time in Scripture and the prayer seems very basic and is contained in only one verse: “Oh that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast (NJB reads, “extend my lands”), that Your hand might be with me, and that You would keep me from evil that it might not hurt me. And God gave him his request.” (1 Chr 4:10) Wow. Why? Why did God answer this guy’s prayer? And that’s all we know about him... that he prayed this prayer and that God answered this prayer. But why did God give him this blessing? Actually, why did God give him this double blessing? The reason I say double blessing is because if you study this verse out in the Hebrew, Jabez actually says, “Oh that You would bless me indeed, that You would bless me indeed...”. The word in Hebrew for “bless” is the word barak. That is where our President gets his name. And Jabez says, “Lord, would You barak, barak?” Would You double bless me?

Well, the reason God answered his prayer is so simple and is contained in the previous verse. It says that Jabez “....was more honourable than his brethren.” (v. 9) Jabez was an honourable man. When you study the subject of honour in Scripture you learn that God puts a high premium on this. It is the ‘language’ of the Kingdom of God. We are instructed to: Honour our parents (Eph 6:2), Honour the Lord (Pro 3:9,10), Honour our wives (1 Pet 3:7), Honour all men (1 Pet 2:17), Honour the King (1 Pet 2:17), Honour widows (1 Tim 5:3), Honour the elders (1 Tim 5:17), etc.

What’s more amazing, still, is the thought that God Himself actually desires to honour us. Imagine! Over and over in the Bible you will find that this is one of God’s greatest expressions toward man, if only man understood it and cooperated with heaven’s plans. In Psalms 91 we read that God promises in verse 14 to deliver and honour the one who puts his love on Him (fulfils the first and greatest commandment). We see that man was crowned in the very beginning with “glory and honour” (Heb 2:7, Ps 8:5) and the Lord seems to be trying very hard to redeem man back to that very place of honour. Jesus rebuked the religious leaders of the day for “receiving honour off one another and not seeking the honour that comes from God only.” (John 5:44) There is an honour that comes from men, however there is also an honour that comes from God only. But that must be sought with the whole heart. Funny that we seek honour from so many with questions such as: Am I okay? How do I look? Do you like me? We seem to have drifted so far away from our secure identity “in-Christ” that it has seeped into our national psyche as we head to Europe asking the same questions... Do you like me? We need to come to a place where our heart is to seek God and His approval above the approval of others. As Jesus said, “they loved the praise of praise of men more than the praise of God” (John 12:43). If we, personally and nationally, put God and His opinion first, all the other things will be added to us besides! I can only imagine that the praise of God would truly be unforgettable... and undeniable!

Until next time,
Kevin and Heather Sanford

September 2010

I’m finishing our last day at Youth Camp 2010. We have had a truly amazing week and God has been moving upon the hearts of all of us. Along with the spiritual things, the kids have had so much fun here at the adventure centre (hiking, biking, ab-sailing, kayaking, river-walking, etc.). And we’ve had a terrific crew, too! They even made a spoof movie of ‘Lord of the Rings’ (sweded). We laughed so, so hard making it, watching it, re-watching it. I loaded the video, along with a slideshow from the camp, on my facebook page....please check it out. It was a great week!

Now I’m headed back into Galway for a baby dedication (second one this week). Then prayer and service tomorrow. I hope to see some of you there. Stay in touch. Pray for us. We love you all. Kevin and Family