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(The Forge Newsletter_April & May_2017)

And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, "It is a ghost!" And they cried out for fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, "Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid." And Peter answered Him and said, "Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water." So He said, "Come." And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. (Matthew 14:26-29)

1. Fear will arise when the Lord comes from out of my experiences
Jesus’ disciples were terrified by the Lord who was walking on the sea but they thought it was a ghost. They had seen a few people drowned in the sea but they had never seen a person who walked on the water. In other words, they knew that human beings are not able to walk on the water, so they assumed the Lord was a ghost. Likewise, if we are bound by our experiences, we may misunderstand the Lord who comes from beyond our experiences, and may be terrified.

Also if someone tries to step out from the boat according to what he hears from the ghost, we have to stop him because he must be crazy. Peter, however, listened to the ghost and tried to step out from the boat. How did his friends react? If I were with Peter, what would I have done?

2. Sometimes Jesus approaches like a ghost
His disciples were terrified by the apparent ghost and shouted; the Lord told them “It is I! Don’t be afraid.” Peter, however, didn’t need to ask his date of birth, or address with postcode to identify who he was. This was not a ghost but the Lord, and because he knew his voice he was able to recognise him, even though they were in a storm.

3. Peter didn’t ask for calming down the storm
Peter asked the Lord to confirm it was really him by telling Peter to come to him on the sea. Why didn’t Peter ask him to calm the storm? We often ask the Lord to resolve our stormy situation, but Peter asked to be able to come to Jesus through the storm. The Lord wants us to overcome our desperate situation by coming near to him.

 
4. If we want to know him deeper, we need to go beyond the storm
Peter had already decided to follow Jesus and left Galilee. But now he decides to follow him to a new level. If we want to grow closer to Jesus, we we need to go beyond not only our geographical and physical boundaries but also our inner and spiritual boundaries.

Some people want to go beyond their boundaries, but they are struggling in the boat with their experiences, situation, and conditions. Or they are praying for Jesus to calm the storm. Rarely do people seek for the experience of walking on water. And even those who do, and find they are able to walk on the water, then wander around in the wrong direction away from Jesus.

5. Our Creator never copies but creates
When Moses led the Israelites, he parted the Red Sea and walked through on the dry ground. When Joshua crossed the River Jordan, the Ark and priests stood in the river and all of them crossed on the dry ground. Elijah and Elisha used their cloak to part the river and they crossed on the dry ground.

However, I wonder why Jesus walked on the water. Did he not have enough power to part the Sea of Galilee? He walked on the water in the middle of the storm. And so did Peter. No one had that experience before in human history. God wants to release these kinds of creative works of God into our history through people who really trust in him and live by faith.

6. People will die whether in the boat or in the water
Being in a boat is no guarantee of safety. The ship which the Apostle Paul was on board was wrecked after fourteen days of being blown about in a storm. Even so, everyone was saved as Apostle Paul had prophesied. The ship that Jonah was on lost all its cargo and Jonah was lost overboard, but all of the crew were also saved.

If we find ourselves in danger of dying, whether in a boat or in the water, we need to listen to the Lord before we react. If we listen to the Lord; our boat may be shipwrecked; we may lose all our stuff; we may be found in the belly of fish; or we may walk on the water! But we will be rescued by his mighty hands and we will reach our destiny of knowing him deeper.

[ News Update ]

1. Some people are dying in the boat, a few people are stepping out of the boat
Over the last couple of months I met many young Koreans in Korea. Almost everyone expressed that they are very busy and tired. They told me that they have to live like that, otherwise it looks like they are not doing enough and their families, friends or colleagues push them and drive them. So they have to live busily and ceaselessly, even though they are tired.

The storm is roaring in church, at work, at school, in society and people don’t know how to manage it. Also it is practically impossible to listen to God in the storm. So people go down to the bottom of the boat like Jonah, and try to sleep in order to ignore the storm. Or they try to row and keep the water away from their boat.

Even though we are in the storm, we need to open our ears and eyes in order to listen and obey. Even though we may be drowned, we have to turn our direction towards him and to walk towards him.

I have seen many young people dying in their boats because they think they will die if they step out from their boat. But that is not true because Jesus is walking on the water, and he is the Way. In the boat it is not safe. If I stay in the boat, I probably will sink with it. But if I listen to him and step out towards him according to what I hear, I will have an encounter with the Way and walk on the water.

So a few people, those who listen to Jesus, are stepping out from their boat and taking part in the journey of faith. A couple of people have already arrived in Wales and some of them are joining the Forge School of Faith on 24^th June. New for us this time: we are travelling a new journey with a family with two young children. (See next paragraph.) 

2. Hong & Hyesun are walking on the water
Last January 13^th, this couple arrived in Wales with their two young daughters, only a little money and without a long term visa because they heard over a period of several years that God wanted them to go to Wales. They have stepped out from their boat and now they seem to walk on the water in the storm.

They are walking on the water like Peter walked in the storm as they have faced financial challenges and the seeming impossibility of a long-term visa. Although there are worries and fears and emotional moments, I can see that they are walking towards the Lord closely. One day Hyesun told us, “The situation hasn’t changed, but I am not afraid any more.” God has changed her through the circumstance.

They are participating the Forge School from 24^th June and flying to Israel on 10^th July for a month. They will return to the UK on 10^th August and return to Korea in the middle of September to prepare for their next step. Please pray for their long term visa and finances.

3. Ceaseless wedding march
Although they have faced, and are facing, some challenges before and after the wedding (such as being refused an American visa) three ladies who have lived with us here in Wales have already got married this year and two: Jinsup and Jeemin, are getting married in September. No one expected these two to get married, but God is leading them into his plan and purpose. Who is going to be next?

[ Prayer & Intercession ]

1. General Election in U.K. on 8^th June
A year ago, former Prime Minister David Cameron’s government held the referendum on leaving the European Union, even as they campaigned against it. They lost, David Cameron resigned and Theresa May took over as Prime Minister. The Brexit bill went through Parliament and the exit from the European Union has been triggered. However, a small proportion of the population are not happy with the Brexit decision, and a larger number of people are not happy with the way Theresa May’s Brexit government are handling it. She has called a General Election on 8^th June so that she and her government will have a clear and firm platform from which to lead us through the next 5 years of transition.

Although Britain and USA have conceived a new life and new era, it seems that they are facing a danger of miscarriage and they haven't got enought strength to bring them forth. Howeven, God who allowed to have the new life and the new era, so I believe that God would bring them forth. Our role now is to be aware of that, and pray and vote for the life, so that the life may not be aborted and be born fully.

And they said to him, "Thus says Hezekiah: 'This day is a day of trouble and rebuke and blasphemy; for the children have come to birth, but there is no strength to bring them forth. (Isaiah 37:3)

Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall the earth be made to give birth in one day? Or shall a nation be born at once? For as soon as Zion was in labor, She gave birth to her children. Shall I bring to the time of birth, and not cause delivery?" says the LORD. "Shall I who cause delivery shut up the womb?" says your God. (Isaiah 66:8-9)

Last January, unexpectedly for most, Donald Trump was elected as President of the USA. In response to the current world terrorist threat, he ordered a travel ban to stop individuals travelling into the USA from certain countries despite opposition from humanitarian organisations and lawyers. He fired James Comey, the FBI director, because of Trump's Russian connection rumour and he has withdrown from the Paris Climate Agreement. His decisions have been extremely unpopular with international media.

Against the background of North Korean nuclear missile threats, the newly elected South Korean President is nominating his new cabinet members radically: even the former cabinet member.

When I see these politicians trying to navigate stormy seas, it reminds me of Peter walking on the water after stepping out from the boat. I believe that God is using these few world leaders in this stormy world to shake and relay our foundations. I feel I need to pray for them more than before.

No one is perfect and spotless. God is using people not because they are perfect, but because they are weak and imperfect because the perfect ones think they can manage without God. So it is true that God is against the proud but gives grace to the humble.

I believe that God is using them to shake and to reset. Although they may be different from my character and my preference, although I may not agree with all that they say, we must pray for these leaders so that they may humble before God, and be the channels for the truth of God to establish the Kingdom of God.

2. The LORD is warning me not to follow the way of this people
*As recent international events have been unfolding, I have been somewhat disturbed by all the vehement opinions and scaremongering on facebook and other media. What will happen to Britain? Is Brexit a huge disaster? Is Donald Trump leading the USA into chaos? Where will IS strike next? A few weeks ago God spoke to me with these verses, reminding me that as a believer in him and his purposes my focus must stay in the right place, regardless how good or bad things are going around me. (Bridget LEE)

The LORD spoke to me with his strong hand upon me, warning me not to follow the way of this people. He said, “Do not call conspiracy everything that these people call conspiracy; do not fear what they fear, and do not dread it. The LORD Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread. He will be a holy place; for both Israel and Judah he will be a stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall. And for the people of Jerusalem he will be a trap and a snare. Many of them will stumble; they will fall and be broken, they will be snared and captured.” (Isaiah 8:11-14)

Shalom Love! 

Qday LEE

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