Author: Life Focus Ministries

Who are we? Dr Robert McQuillan is recognised as an inspiring encourager, counsellor, mentor to ministries and Bible teacher ministering meaningfully on the prophetic edge. Robert and Maureen, a gifted communicator with an uncanny insight into knowing 'where people are at', delight to bless and encourage God's people and ministries... and touch the hearts of the unchurched in the marketplace. Contact: OnlinerConnect@gmail.com

OUR FATHER’S BUSINESS? IT’S THE BIGGEST!

August 20, 2023… some remembered thoughts of the late George Forbes, missionary spokesperson, that remind us to be about our Father’s business.

Jesus, the Saviour of the  world – a dark world now –  declared in Matthew 24:14, ‘And this gospel of the kingdom shall be proclaimed in all the world as a witness to all nations. And then the end shall come.’

‘The end’ is ultimate! But between now and the end with God’s enabling the gospel of Christ must be proclaimed in the entire world as a witness to all nations. Then and only then, will the glorious end come.

Then and only then will…

  • Christ appear in the clouds.
  • The dead in Christ rise!
  • We (who are still living) be caught up with them and together we will all meet our Saviour Jesus in the air to be with Him forever!

Meanwhile…
We must be about our Father’s business! With His guidance, enabling and power, there is much work to do that must be done!

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NO MATTER WHAT…

(August 19, 2023) Carol Round inspirationally shares encouragement regarding storms of life…

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18TLB is a very inspirational scripture – ‘Always be joyful. Always keep on praying. No matter what happens, always be thankful, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.’

The emphasis here is on the word ‘always,’ and this simply means ‘at all times, on every occasion.’ But note Paul’s encouragement… ‘No matter what happens.’

I remember a discussion of 1 Thessalonians in a Sunday school class. One member shared this about the above verses: ‘Until our family was faced with cancer, we did life as usual. I’m actually grateful, not for the cancer, but that it changed our lives.’

Unexpected crises are a part of life!
Disappointment, heartache, pain and other challenges in our lives are sometimes the motivating factor in seeking salvation or our spiritual growth.

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FULL STEAM AHEAD FOLLOWING THE FATHER!

(August 17, 2023) Robert McQuillan reflects on a lifestyle choice…

It’ll soon be Father’s Day and I’m reminded of my dad and my childhood. Let me share something personal here… since childhood I’ve had a thing about steam trains!

Many a Sunday afternoon my parents would take me for a walk in the country (few people had cars back then and walking was the in-thing). Sometimes we’d cross a railway line. If I heard train whistles from down the track, and realised a steam locomotive was coming, I would insist we stop and wait until little wide-eyed me would watch it come by!

Growing older I’d be off with mates to the Saturday afternoon flicks. John Wayne was soon my hero and the first movie I saw him in he jumped onto the rear carriage of a big steam loco.

Following one’s heart
But more than the Duke was on my heart. Locos were certainly were! Especially as dad was an engineer – the official title for locomotive drivers in those yesterdays of steam trains, and I was proud of him.

Came the day which I will never forget when Dad took me – just a ‘little fellow’ in short pants – down to the local, large city rail station and explained about the (to me) ‘huge monster’ that was technically called the engine. And then being lifted up onto the platform, his working domain. What a thrill, such excitement for a small boy… my heart was beating: this was like a dream come true.

The loco had been prestarted and Dad explained the controls, how the engine operated. It was a cold morning but the heat from the blazing firebox quickly warmed me physically – my heart was already on fire with curiosity. I had stared at the huge wheels, and now I gazed at the control levers that looked so heavy to little me, and then back at the tons of coal in the tender. I was elated to be on that platform, especially when Dad permitted me to pull the whistle!

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HOW GREAT IS GOD!

(August 15, 2023) Dr Jim McClure challenges readers… 

Around 3500 years ago something occurred that still impacts our lives today – God gave Moses the Ten Commandments. 

Let me give you a brief background here. After the people of Israel had spent 400 years in Egypt God raised up Moses to lead them out of Egypt. Early in their journey to the Promised Land God gave them the Ten Commandments which are a brief summarise the basic life values which are just as relevant today as they were when God first revealed them to Moses on Mount Sinai (Exodus 20:1-21).    

While those commandments have repeatedly been broken throughout history, today we are witnessing a deliberate and defiant disregard of them!

As I was reflecting on this and considering how they tell us much about the fallibility of human nature, I was aware that they also reveal something about the breathtaking character of Almighty God.

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SQUEEZED, PUSHED AND PULLED

(August 15, 2023) Richard Winter challenges…

This happened to me in college –

We all had to take two art classes, one painting and the other pottery. I thought I knew how to draw and paint – but not well, and pottery was something I knew nothing about, so I went for it.

We threw a lump of clay on a spinning wheel and squeezed, pushed and pulled that clay until it resembled a pot of some sort.

Jeremiah 18:4 says that God has an illustration of how a potter can make a pot of his choice and,  if he doesn’t like it, can squash it down again and make another pot.

This is a life message!
In this world we can be squeezed, pushed and pulled to conform to the image that it wants to make of us. But this is not what God wants for us so He makes a new life for us –  we are to be born again by the Spirit and not the flesh.

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MANDATE MINISTRIES JULY HIGHLIGHTS

(July 31, 2023) Ross and Donna, Mandate Ministries, share from Chiang Mai, northern Thailand…

Thank you to those who have given generously
Due to the generous giving of our friends and partner churches we have been able to arrange for three supply runs across the border over the last month.

The need is so great and we can only do what we can with funds that come in.

As well as providing much needed material needs, it was a joy to be able to pray for them and encourage them to continue to have faith and hope.

Tito the survivor
Last month while Donna and I were at a local market, we met a man named Tito shuffling along with a walking frame. He has had several operations to remove brain tumours, and it has affected his motor skills and speech.

I asked if I could pray for him and he was very eager for me to do so. We invited him to church and have taken him four times now and he absolutely loves it! He has since committed his life to Christ and I meet with him during the week.

We go out for lunch or coffee, talk about his walk with God and have lots of laughs. Although Tito struggles to communicate, he is one of the funniest and most intelligent guys I know. He also loves my dad jokes so he is officially my new best friend.

Prayer needs…
Thanks again for your faithful prayers and support of our ministry to Asia. Please pray for –

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Ross and Donna, Mandate Ministries, have been missionaries to Asia for many years. Based in  Chiang Mai, they work with local pastors and church-planters, developing in-service leadership training programs that address challenges and issues unique to this area of Thailand. Link via OnlinerConnect@gmail.com
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ANAPAUŌ – CHILL OUT!

(July 31, 2023) Robert McQuillan encourages…

Odd name for the title of an article, isn’t it? Let me explain…

An old friend called recently and happened to ask how I wrote articles, how I got my inspiration and so on. My answer was twofold… like sermon preparations where I’d have an idea of what I wanted to preach/teach, it would come together as I typed.

The second way is similar… and I say this humbly, not spookily – I’d start to type and find that I’m immediately being led by the Spirit and ‘words just come about through my fingers.’ It’s called ‘Being Spirit led.’ And that’s what’s happening here, even as I type this!

Now I’d already researched so many scriptures in respect of something I thought I’d be writing about… but now I find the blessed Holy Spirit taking me in a different direction – even an embarrassing one!

And that okay… I’m His to be directed and used as He wishes… as we all should be! And that’s a threefold principle all Christians should remember every day…

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KABOD – GLORY!

(July 30, 2023) Dr Jim McClure shares on this Hebrew word… 

‘Glory!’ Christians often use the word ‘glory’… but usually do not have much idea of what it means!

The Hebrew word for glory, kabod, is found 200 times in the Old Testament and its development is interesting.

Development
The root of kabod actually means ‘heavy’ and is associated with the liver (Exodus 29:13), which is the heaviest of the internal organs.  The use of the word as ‘heavy’ is seen in a number of Old Testament passages such as Psalm 38:4KJV, ‘For mine iniquities are gone over mine head: as a heavy burden they are too heavy for me.’

Glory developed into the concept of splendour.It referred to material wealth, that is, being ‘heavy with riches.’  Note Isaiah 10:3, ‘To whom will you flee for help, and where will you leave your wealth?’  Here ‘wealth’ is ‘kabod.’ 

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AMOS THE LORD’S MESSENGER (Part 3)

(July 29, 2023) Brian Bell continues sharing his meditation in Amos… 

When I began looking at Amos it was for my own ‘personal’ study and I did not expect the Holy Spirit to lead my thoughts into what is now the third article and which is meant to be the ‘final’ in a short if unexpected series!

In this meditation I bring your attention to Amos 8:11 and 9:9-15 and encourage you to consider the –

Famine of God’s word
Chapter 8:11 reads ‘I will send a famine … not a famine of bread … but of hearing the words of the Lord.’

In writing his gospel account, Luke records the Lord Jesus as saying the following words in response to the temptation to turn a stone into bread… ‘The scriptures say people need more than bread to live.’

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GOTCHA!

(July 28, 2023) Richard Winter challenges attitudes…

What do a lawyer and two women and their kitchen have to do with we Christians?

Most of us would probably say, ‘Not much – I don’t really know such folk.’ Well, let me teach some principles about these three…

Let’s take the lawyer first
Ever had a dialogue with a lawyer? The ones I had left me a little intimidated as the impression was I didn’t know much about the law!

Jesus was once questioned by a lawyer, not like a modern-day lawyer but an expert in the laws of Moses.

And the question he asked Jesus was a gotcha one, like many lawyers do, perhaps the Perry Mason type suddenly asking a gotcha such as… ‘And by the way, where were you on the night of the 14th at 11.00pm?’

Luke 10:25 records the incident with Jesus this way… ‘A certain lawyer stood up, testing Jesus, saying, “Teacher,  what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”’

Now that’s a good question… but the wrong motivation by this guy! He didn’t ask it because he really wanted to know, he said it because he wanted to test Jesus. Eg… ‘I’m going to tempt him. I want to see if he can come up with an answer to this.’

Gotcha question
So… good question, bad motivation. A gotcha question. Did he really mean what do ‘I, myself’ need to do to inherit eternal life? No! The CJB version reads that he ‘… stood up to try and trap him…’

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