MAPLEVIEW BLOG

May I rant for a moment on a topic of concern regarding the devices and satanic snares of our adversary – Satan! The Bible has a verse of scripture that I committed to memory a number of years ago that is at the center of my
rant.

“Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.” Psalm 119:165 (KJV)

So often I find Good Believer’s with good hearts falling into grievous offenses with their brothers and sisters in the Lord. For one reason or
another “the offense” seems always large enough to justify a “righteous indignation” – an excusable holy anger toward the offender. Yet, the Bible verse clearly states for a mature lover of God’s ways “…nothing shall
offend them.”

We must all guard ourselves from falling into receiving offenses from our brothers and sisters. For they are nothing more than a sly satanic snare attempting to kill, steal and destroy the grace of God in your life and the life of the faith community. Taking offense is a subtle but powerful tool of the enemy. Jesus tells a parable in Matthew 13:24 of a man who planted a field and while he was sleeping his enemy came and sowed weeds among the same field. His enemy did this to destroy the man’s hope of harvest and leave him broken and bitter in failure & disappointment. Yet it was not the man’s doing but the work of his enemy.

Seeds of offense are sown by the enemy into our lives by those around at times intentionally and often even without intention. Remember, Jesus words to Peter “Get behind me Satan!” Peter did not deliberately understand that his actions had originated with Satan – but they did. We must learn not to fall asleep as Believer’s in the truth that our struggle is not against flesh and blood even if flesh and blood is where the offense came from. We can’t afford to live with offense operating in any area of our life. Today let the offense go and discover again the great peace of the Lord Jesus Christ

Jay, a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints at Mapleview, greetings in His precious name.  I never cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers.

This letter comes to you this Christmas Day as a sincere expression of my gratitude for all you have accomplish for Jesus our Lord this past year.

In the past it has been my Christmas tradition to convey my appreciation to each of those assisting in accomplishing the Lord’s vision here at Mapleview. My prayers have gone out with the hope that those faithful volunteers would receive a warm sense of God manifest presence for all their sacrifice of time, energy and money. Many often gave of themselves to the detriment of their own personal comfort and well-being.

I have often said, “We can not even begin to pay those who serve so diligently what they are worth, but we can do our best to let everyone know how much we truly value them.”  This year, I hope to do that – through a few short words that spring from my own heart.

“Dear saints and fellow travelers’ of the faith expedition!  To you I owe a debt of immense gratitude.  For each of you have contributed in your own unique and phenomenal way to God’s Kingdom advancing throughout this year.  You may not see it  with clarity, but your acts of kindness, your ongoing faithfulness, and your agape love have been used by the Lord to give hope to thousands of people who will never know or thank you personally.  You have done it quietly, without boasting and with no thought of reward.  You have now and then even had to endure criticism and ridicule, from those not recognizing your service – yet you have persevered for God and God alone!  Be encouraged dear friend.  Our Heavenly Father has recorded all you have done for Him and has “credited it to you as righteousness.” Gods Kingdom will be richer for your service.”

In farewell, I wish you and all of those who are most dear to you, a wonderful and joyful Christmas and New Year.  My prayer is that you would remain safe and secure in our Loving Savior this coming year. Be blessed dear and treasured friend of Jesus Christ.

Sincerely,

A most privileged shepherd,

Pastor Jay Davis

“The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” — which means, “God with us.”  Matt. 1:23

How much more obvious can God make it regarding His enduring love for you and I. The Christmas season is a genuine testimony of God’s willingness to wash our feet. (Do you see the picture of this? Can you grasp the love?) Jehovah God, entering in the flesh the filth and sin of the world in order to wash our feet.

Our God is so phenomenally beyond our limited understanding and wisdom we would be smart not to draw conclusions of Gods timing and purposes in other people’s lives. Only the Lord can weave together the potential found in others. Only He can determine the value of another’s contribution.

The Unknown Workman

He was a humble workman

With the tools with which he wrought

And he built a common stable,

Or so it was, he thought!

And he fashioned there a manger

Where the cattle could be fed,

Never thinking that the Saviour

Would pillow there His head.

He had only built a stable

With a manger in the stall,

Yet it cradled there the Christ-child,

Who is King and Lord of all!

So although our task be humble,

Let us work each day with care;

For we may not know God’s purpose,

Or why He placed us there.

For the manger that formed the cradle

Of our Lord and Saviour here,

Was built by a humble workman

In Bethlehem of Judea.

This Christmas, let us take Jesus’ example and be servants willing to wash the feet of anyone  who may have lost their way in the darkness of this corrupt world or any who may have got bogged down in the mire and  filth of daily life.

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.  Isaiah 9:6

If you would permit me to challenge you this Christmas, my challenge would be for you to reflect on what the Christmas season ultimately means to you and your family. It would be to connect the oldest miracle moments of Christ’s birth to the very moments of your life today.

Moments from the ancient story that include:

• While scurrying about purchasing gifts for your loved ones – you would, remember our Heavenly Fathers’ gift of His Son to the world
• While judging others as insignificant and unworthy – You would  remember the very ordinary carpenter Joseph and his young pregnant wife’s journey to Bethlehem.
• While convincing yourself you can’t really be of help in the need  standing before you – You would remember the inn keeper and the poor choice that he made.
• While debating whether or not to give praise with singing  with the congregation – You remember the angelic choir bursting through the heavenlies proclaiming the birth of your savior
• While being angry at your low position in life and lack of wealth – You remember the glorious moments that God gave to the lowly shepherds.
• While holding a small baby in your arms this Christmas – You, remember the difference the baby born to a virgin has made in your life personally.
• While you may believe you are not obligated to a church body – You remember what King Herod missed out on because he stayed in Jerusalem.
• While considering the challenge of following a  new vision and directions for your life – You remember the star of Bethlehem and the importance of risking following mysterious promptings of your heart.
• While fearful of where your faith journey may lead and what it may cost you to follow – You, remember the victorious faith journey and rewarding joy of the wise men’s discovery at the end.

Out of the devotional book entitled “The Leadership Genius of Jesus” comes a thought that  grabbed my attention regarding the visionary and daring adventurous types God calls.

“All men dream, but not equally.  Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds awake to find it was vanity. But the dreamers of the Day are dangerous men, that they may act their dreams with open eyes to make it possible.”

I love this quote by T. E. Lawrence. I meet a lot of wonderfully successful people. I in fact believe everyone can become successful in some aspect when their life is surrendered to Jesus. I’ve noticed basically two levels of success over the years. People in the first level are successful in acquiring the worldly performance driven success; they have worked hard at accumulating stuff, and can enjoy the fruits of their financial efforts. Then there’s the second level of truly successful people: They’re on fire for something. Their mission is intense and personal. These are the steely eyed dreamers whose eyes are focused on Gods purposes being fulfilled in their lives and whose will won’t quiver when presented with a Kingdom of God task that

many average people would consider “dangerous.”

Jesus looked to recruit these “dangerous” kind of people. He knew that Kingdom of God tasks could only be accomplished with daring men and women. His best followers would need to be “dangerous” and full of faith in order to meet the challenges. Jesus developed that dangerous streak in His followers. The way He did so was a clinic in leadership development.

Jesus’ recruitment style always began with where people were at and then challenged them to move forward from there. It’s rare to find, a situation where He didn’t ‘start conversations with people about something happening in their life that was out of alignment at that moment, and attempt to push them little by little further into kingdom living and thinking. His first contact was almost always followed by an appeal to stretch to a higher level of faith.  His suggestion to join in faith the adventure of a lifetime. Dangerous leaders make bold suggestions for the lives of others. How about becoming

dangerous for Jesus by joining in the advancing of the Kingdom of God.

Jesus instructions in His Sermon on the Mount included these words “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.  But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.  Mt. 6:19-21
 
Jesus makes clear in this passage that there are two basic investments strategies for the believer to participate in. God tenderly desires to open the eyes of our understanding that there are two systems of doing business and Banking in this life. There is the earthly system of storing your wealth in temporal institutions where moth, rust and thieves can destroy and there is the heavenly strategy outlined by Jesus where your investment can be used where the returns are literally out of this world and without measure.

As always and in all things human our Heavenly Father in giving us free will leaves the decision what to do and how to live in our hands. The challenge is in the choice. Where will we ultimately decide to invest our treasure becomes a question of the heart.

Will our investment strategy be focused on the fine things of earth? Will it be on carnal works of art and jewels, will it be on multiple homes and fancy toys alone – will our greatest pursuits in life be on earthly treasures that given time will be junked, sold for scrap or torn down.

Or will you become one that sets their eyes on the higher unseen eternal investment strategy Jesus alludes to in His sermon? The one that even the thief “death” will not be able to rob you from. Nor the thief “crashing economy” is able to steal away from you.

The investments given to “King of Kings” will never be stowed away in inaccessible RRSP’s or stressful stock certificates. No what is given to God will be safely geometrically compounding in Heavens treasury.  Imagine an investment were there is no fear of corruption in addition to huge returns. Treasure placed into Gods Hands for Kingdom purpose is such an investment. The “unimaginable riches of Christ” will be yours for eternity if you choose wisely where you invest today.

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

ACTS 1:8 - “BUT YOU WILL RECEIVE POWER WHEN THE HOLY SPIRIT COMES ON YOU; AND YOU WILL BE MY WITNESSES …”

Today is a day of many mixed emotions. On the one hand we are sad to say farewell to our cherished friends and partners in the Gospel – the Luff family. Yet on the other hand we are thrilled for the leading of God in their life sending them to begin a brand new ministry adventure in Simco Ontario as the senior pastor of the Pentecostal church in town.

Thomas Carlyle wrote “The history of the world, is but the biography of great men! We all owe much to the pioneers that have gone before us—to those veterans of the faith throughout the centuries.  Theirs is a story as exciting, as any Spielberg movie as daring as any modern day act of courage. As mind boggling as the most inspiring science fiction and for those who dismiss church history as boring have obviously

never trired to come at it through the simple lives of the men and woman who lived it out. Each of us are the inheritors of a tremendous legacy. There are so many thrilling accounts of courage, adventure, and endurance—tales of those early believers who stood up for their faith against kings who had no allegiance to any earthly man but only to the One Great King.

I trust that Carlyle’s words will be symbolic and poignant for both Craig, Cora, and the girls (Madison, Sydney, and Abigail) as they move forward toward their new mission.

We bless them and trust that they will sense the Holy Spirits powerful leading and direction in the days ahead.  Craig and Cora you will be missed immensely by all but what ever you do keep “Giving, Growing, & Going” for Jesus!

Much Love and prayers

On January 31st, 1957, the Parliament issued a proclamation to fix permanently the 2nd Monday in October as the Thanksgiving Day. The Proclamation goes as follows…

“A Day of General Thanksgiving to Almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed …”

The origin of our Canadian Thanksgiving Day is different from our neighbor the American Thanksgiving. Canadian thanksgiving has always centered on giving thanks for a successful harvest. The American Thanksgiving Day tradition revolves around remembering the Mayflower Pilgrims that settled in Plymouth Massachusetts in 1620.

Canadian Thanksgiving is all about the Harvest! For me personally Thanksgiving is a yearly reminder of the most important harvest of all – the harvest that Jesus refers to in Luke 10:2 “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.

Another verse of scripture that always seems to come to mind in conjunction when the ‘Harvest’ passage in Luke is the very sad passage in Jeremiah 8: 20 that says, “The harvest is past, the summer has ended, and we are not saved.”

Thanksgiving Day In addition to these two passages revolve for me one of the main focuses for Jody and me planting Mapleview Community Church 15 years ago.   First, the call of Jesus stating that the harvest was plentiful and that Jesus needed workers and that without willing servants there would be many that would miss the Harvest and lose out on the saving Grace of Jesus Christ in their life.

On Thanksgiving Sunday I praise God for my salvation, for my wife’s salvation, for my children who are serving the Lord for the beautiful people of our mapleview family that are serving the Lord. It also becomes a day in my calendar year that I make a fresh commitment to the Lord of the Harvest and that I will do all I can for His cause.  May we all have a role in bringing in a bountiful harvest of Souls for His everlasting Kingdom!

For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 2Cor.10:4

From the devotional of Pastor Jack Hayford called, Living the Spirit Filled Life – “We are the citizens of two worlds. We are spiritual people redeemed by the Lord to live as His people in the kingdom of God; and simultaneously, we are human beings living in a very physical world still plagued by the nature of our father, Adam. But our warfare is spiritual. It may look physical, evoking strong emotion with obvious fleshly targets, but the Apostle Paul declares that our battle is spiritual and the only true effective implements for our warfare are spiritual, too.

These implements are “mighty” because they are spiritual, attacking the source of the problem. Satanic strongholds resist the advance of Gods Kingdom, and devilish arguments boast themselves against God. These opponents will not yield to Human reason, earthly passion, or man made device.

Prayer translates spiritual action into practical break-through. Our warfare demands spirit-filled, Bible-quoting, Holy Ghost-directed, supernatural prayer. This prayer casts down the works of the devil, shuts the mouth of the liar, and restores the minds of those captured by their own disobedience.”

Pastor Jack reminds un about the necessity of prayer. As citizens of heaven we cannot simply think that our freedom and deliverance is automatic. Take some time and with concentrated focus come against some of those habitual sins. More then simply hoping that they will go away in time or getting so busy that you will not have to face them is not the answer.  Now is the time, to get down on your knees and call out to God, or maybe seek out a trusted friend to agree with you in prayer that  the stronghold will fall. There is nothing to loose in asking, seeking and knocking on Heavens door.