There are times, not very often, when you can feel history being made.
An archduke falls, a wall comes down, a plane hits a building, and in that
moment you can feel the ground shifting beneath your feet.
When those initial results came in from Sunderland and Newcastle in the
early hours of yesterday morning, I could barely believe it. Even now, to write
the words 'Britain has voted to leave the EU' feels extraordinary, like a leap
into some alternative reality.
For once, all the cliches are justified. This was not merely an
electoral earthquake. It was a popular revolt by vast swathes of England and
Wales against the political, financial and cultural elite, whose complacent
assumptions have been simply blown away.
I woke up around
5.30am this morning, to watch the results of the UK referendum on our continuing
membership of the European Union, like many I was surprised by the result,
although as someone who actively supports the UK’s withdrawal from the EU., and
I was praying and I had the phrase“ it’s
time to think outside the box,”
I’ve been actively
seeking a new job for two years, and I have applied for at least several hundred
jobs during that time, despite a lot of prayer both personal, including asking
many friends to pray ,nothing has come
through in the Merseyside and Manchester areas, I’ve had many dozens of
rejection emails,about 3 months ago, I
had an interview with BT, Lancaster House, Liverpool, and to be honest I thought
I had the job, when I had an automatic email the next day to say my application
had been unsuccessful, however I thought that the phrase Lancaster was
important but wasn’t sure why?
I’ve dealt with
several employment agencies in the Liverpool , and some 4 weeks ago I spoke to well-known
employment agency in Liverpooland I was
disappointed by their response,I was praying about this and a phrase come to
my mind,“ it’s time to think outside
the box” I had an email about a job
which was permanent,excellent salary
and I then saw the location,which was
Lancaster,it was the 3rd
time I had that email, the first two times I ignored the email, this time I
decided to apply to test my cv and covering letter and I thought nothing more
of it.
About 3 weeks ago, I
was chatting to one of my friends at Church,and I mentioned about the job in
Lancaster that I applied for,when we
discussing the progress or lack of on the jobs front,I mentioned this job I had applied for in
Lancaster,and said I had only applied
to test my Curriculum Vitae and Covering Letter, but I hadn’t received any news,about 30 minutes after this conversation
with my friend, my mobile phone rang and it was the HR department of this
company in Lancaster to offer me an interview.
In the last few
weeks, I have had an ongoing conversation via email
and phone with this company, and I was offered an interview in their offices in
Lancaster on Monday 21st June 2016.I spoke to several friends at Church on the Sunday, and many of them
prayed for me, and I made the necessary arrangements to travel to Lancaster for
my interview, my interview went really well, and I kept
asking the Lord,“why He has provided me
an interview in Lancaster, when I’ve been applying for jobs in Liverpool?” I
had a phone call the next day from this company to offer me the job, which I accepted,
today I received the employment offer letter and contract.
Yes,there
are a lot of things to do and get ready, I have no idea why I have been offered
a permanent role in Lancaster when I couldn’t get despite my best efforts,I couldn’t get a temporary job with an
identical CV. So I have prayed and prayed about it.
While praying I had
the word again, “thinking outside the box,” and the words Saul and David, for
the context of the story, I suggest that you read 1 Samuel:8 – 10.
1 Samuel 10:6-13
English Standard Version (Anglianised)
6 Then the Spirit
of the Lord will rush upon you, and you will prophesy with them and be turned
into another man. 7 Now when these signs meet you, do what your hand finds to
do, for God is with you. 8 Then go down before me to Gilgal. And behold, I
am coming to you to offer burnt offerings and to sacrifice peace offerings.
Seven days you shall wait, until I come to you and show you what you shall do.
9 When he turned his
back to leave Samuel, God gave him another heart. And all these signs came to
pass that day. 10 When they came to Gibeah, behold, a group of prophets met
him, and the Spirit of God rushed upon him, and he prophesied among them. 11
And when all who knew him previously saw how he prophesied with the prophets,
the people said to one another, “What has come over the son of Kish? Is Saul
also among the prophets?” 12 And a man of the place answered, “And who is their
father?” Therefore it became a proverb, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”
13 When he had finished prophesying, he came to the high place.
Since, the
people of Israel had entered the promised land, they hadn’t wanted a King
and the Lord had been their King, and they had been governed or lead by a
series of Judges, the last Judge was Samuel, like some of his
predecessors his family hadn’t followed the Lord, because of the behaviour of
his sons, see 1 Samuel 8, the people of Israel demanded a King, The Lord
bought Saul to the attention of Samuel see 1 Samuel 9 and Saul was anointed to
be King.
Unfortunately, Saul
had a moral failure although he had started well and had some military
successes, he came to rely on his own abilities and strengths see 1
Samuel:11-15.
We see in 1 Samuel
15:24-35
35 And the Lord
regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel.
It seemed that all
was lost, yes Saul had failed, but that hadn’t stopped the Lord’s plan
and purpose being fulfilled.
Proverbs 19:20-21
20 Listen to advice
and accept instruction,
that you may gain wisdom in the future. 21 Many are the
plans in the mind of a man,
but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.
In 1 Samuel
16, Samuel was commanded by the Lord to stop grieving for Saul because
the Lord had rejected Saul, and he was sent by the Lord to anoint Saul’s
replacement as King.
Samuel was sent to
the house of Jesse, and when Samuel saw Jesse’s sons, he surely
thought that this one must be the one to be King and each time, the Lord said
no, did Samuel think what is going on or did he trust the Lord and His
direction.
1 Samuel 16:7b
For the Lord sees
not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the
heart.
Saul turned to
Jesse, and asked did he have anymore sons, Jesse replied yes, the
youngest one, but he is looking after the sheep, they sent for David see 1 Samuel 16:11-13
11 Then Samuel said
to Jesse, “Are all your sons here?” And he said, “There remains yet the
youngest, but behold, he is keeping the sheep.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send
and get him, for we will not sit down till he comes here.” 12 And he sent and
brought him in. Now he was ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome. And
the Lord said, “Arise, anoint him, for this is he.” 13 Then Samuel took the
horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of
the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and
went to Ramah.
2 Chronicles 16:9a
For the eyes of
the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully
committed to him.
David was God’s
choice to be King, Saul was Man’s choice when the Lord had rejected Saul because
of his sin, Men’s choice was to choose what they expected a King to be like
they looked for someone similar to Saul, yet the Lord had chosen someone whose
heart was/is fully devoted to him.
We expect the Lord
to fulfil our desires/dreams that even when they come from the Lord, we have a
dream partner/dream job/dream ministry, and the Lord tells us to look outside
the box, we see what he has for us, rather than the limited expectations we
have for ourselves.
Psalm 78:70-72 70 He chose David
his servant
and took him from the sheepfolds; 71 from tending
the sheep he brought him
to be the shepherd of his people Jacob,
of Israel his inheritance. 72 And David
shepherded them with integrity of heart;
with skilful hands he led them.
I love the story of
Peter, we see in John 18, that
Peter rejected the Lord 3 times, just as Jesus told him, he would. When Peter
realised what he had done, he ran away in shame, many including Peter could have written him
off, he had failed big time, yet
John 21 New International
Version - UK (NIVUK) Jesus and the
miraculous catch of fish
21 Afterwards Jesus appeared
again to his disciples, by the Sea of Galilee. It happened this way: 2 Simon
Peter, Thomas (also known as Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons
of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. 3 ‘I’m going out to fish,’
Simon Peter told them, and they said, ‘We’ll go with you.’ So they went out and
got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.
4 Early in the
morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realise that it
was Jesus.
5 He called out to
them, ‘Friends, haven’t you any fish?’
‘No,’ they answered.
6 He said, ‘Throw
your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.’ When they did,
they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.
7 Then the disciple
whom Jesus loved said to Peter, ‘It is the Lord!’ As soon as Simon Peter heard
him say, ‘It is the Lord,’ he wrapped his outer garment round him (for he had
taken it off) and jumped into the water. 8 The other disciples followed in the
boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a
hundred metres. 9 When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with
fish on it, and some bread.
10 Jesus said to
them, ‘Bring some of the fish you have just caught.’ 11 So Simon Peter climbed back
into the boat and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but
even with so many the net was not torn. 12 Jesus said to them, ‘Come and have
breakfast.’ None of the disciples dared ask him, ‘Who are you?’ They knew it
was the Lord. 13 Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the
same with the fish. 14 This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his
disciples after he was raised from the dead.
Jesus reinstates
Peter
15 When they had
finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter,
‘Simon son of
John, do you love me more than these?’
‘Yes, Lord,’ he
said, ‘you know that I love you.’
Jesus said, ‘Feed
my lambs.’
16 Again Jesus
said, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me?’
He answered,
‘Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.’
Jesus said, ‘Take
care of my sheep.’
17 The third time
he said to him, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me?’
Peter was hurt
because Jesus asked him the third time, ‘Do you love me?’ He said, ‘Lord, you
know all things; you know that I love you.’
Jesus said, ‘Feed
my sheep. 18
Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went
where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and
someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.’ 19 Jesus
said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then
he said to him, ‘Follow me!’
20 Peter turned and
saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them. (This was the one
who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and had said, ‘Lord, who is
going to betray you?’) 21 When Peter saw him, he asked, ‘Lord, what about him?’
22 Jesus answered,
‘If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must
follow me.’ 23 Because of this, the rumour spread among the believers that this
disciple would not die. But Jesus did not say that he would not die; he only
said, ‘If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?’
24 This is the disciple
who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his
testimony is true.
25 Jesus did many
other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that
even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.
Friends, many of us
including myself, have prayed and prayed for ages for something, maybe
it’s time we looked outside the box of our limited expectations or experiences,
and experience the fullness that the Lord has for us?
During my quiet time
5 weeks ago, the Lord bought my attention to this scripture and this one week
before I had the email about the job in Lancaster.
Deuteronomy
8:1-10New International Version (NIV)
Do Not Forget the
Lord
8 Be careful to
follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase
and may enter and possess the land the Lord promised on oath to your ancestors.
2 Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these
forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart,
whether or not you would keep his commands. 3 He humbled you, causing you to
hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors
had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word
that comes from the mouth of the Lord. 4 Your clothes did not wear out and your
feet did not swell during these forty years. 5 Know then in your heart that as
a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you.
6
Observe the commands of the Lord your God, walking in obedience to him and
revering him. 7 For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land—a land
with brooks, streams, and deep springs gushing out into the valleys and hills;
8 a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil
and honey; 9 a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing; a
land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills.
10 When you have
eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has
given you.
And then,
2 Timothy 3:16-17New
International Version - UK (NIVUK)
16 All Scripture is
God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in
righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God[a] may be thoroughly equipped for
every good work.
Four key claims made by the Remain camp were demolished last night in
the final hours of the referendum battle.
As voters prepared to go to the polls
in a knife-edge contest, Leave supporters said David Cameron's arguments on
Turkey, trade, migration and welfare had fallen apart.
And in a final impassioned plea, Michael Gove declared today was 'D-Day'
for current generations of Britons. He urged wavering voters not to flinch from
regaining sovereignty from a Brussels machine that would leave their country
poorer and less secure.
Polls make the contest neck and neck. 'It's 50:50,' said Professor John
Curtice – the only analyst to have predicted last year's election result.
Making his final arguments for Britain to remain in the EU, the Prime
Minister suffered a series of body blows from events and interventions beyond
his control:
On
Turkey, EU diplomats said talks on the country's membership will reopen
next week;
On trade,
Germany's top industrialist dismissed claims Brexit would spark a tariff
war;
On
migration, EU chief Jean-Claude Juncker ruled out more changes to free
movement rules;
On
welfare, Mr Cameron was accused of falsely claiming jobless migrants can
be kicked out.
Sovereignty is democracy. The idea of democracy
is that the people of that country are in control. That doesn't mean they get
100% control, because everything in life is a compromise and a negotiation, but
at least in a democracy the people we elect get to make those compromises. In
the EU it's done behind closed doors, in deals with big businesses by people
that no-one ever elected."Steve
Hilton
Members of Parliament represent British Voters
and therefore serve the will of the British people, if Members of Parliament
think that we as British Voters serve their will and ambition, it’s time they stood down and let those who
are willing to serve their Country take their place,if Parliament thinks that they can ignore and
cast aside what us as British Voters have voted for it’s time for a General
Election.
I'm voting for us, to leave the EU today, I have
no problems with Europe or Europeans , but I live in Britain and am British,
and therefore I don't live in a country called Europe and my nationality isn't
European! I respect other people's views even when they disagree with me, but
the European project started as a free trade association and is now a political
union , with it's own laws, parliament, currency, flag, national anthem
,police, president and executive and now it's own military arm, that sounds
like a country to me, if we vote to leave we simply get our country Great
Britain back , the journey may be difficult, and we will face many challenges ,
but I believe that despite that, Great Britain will be great again outside the
behemoth that is a country called Europe,