Introducing God Conversations...

Hi everyone,

Awaken Your Dreams is changing its name! We felt that "God Conversations" more accurately reflected the heart of the ministry: "to equip people to recognise and respond to the voice of God"...

Since dreams and visions are one of the most common forms of biblical communication God uses, they will continue to have a major emphasis in my ministry. ‘Awaken Your Dreams’ will remain the name of the Dreams Seminar.
Check out our new website: www.godconversations.com!

The monthly blog is still active but will now be hosted at our new website. Sign up at: www.godconversations.com/blog to recieve the latest article... 

The Sounds of God

Have you ever wondered what God sounds like? Is his voice a booming guttural sound? Or is it a soft mystical whisper? What accent does he have? Is he a serious monotone or more like an animated ... 

Read on at:  www.godconversations.com/blog

With love and prayers for a blessed Christmas and wonderful God-conversations in the coming year!

Tania

The Middle Man

I love praying for people on my travels. But there are times I get frustrated when people ask me to hear from God for them: “Can you tell me what God is saying?”

There is this persistent idea that it is better to use a ‘middle man’ to hear from God. Instead of going to him directly, you enlist someone ask to talk to him on your behalf. It seems to be a common problem amongst the people of God...

The Israelites used a middle man when they urged Moses to go up the mountain of God for them: "They stayed at a distance and said to Moses, "Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die." (Exodus 20:18-19)

Peter used a middle man when he asked John to speak to Jesus: Peter motioned to this disciple and said, "Ask him which one he means." (John 13:21-24)

We seek to use a middle man every time we join the prayer line and ask the pastor or the preacher to hear from God for us.

A middle man is a mediator - someone who negotiates on our behalf. At the time of the Old Covenant, the middle men were known as ‘prophets’; spokespeople who were uniquely chosen to deliver a message from God.

But in the New Covenant, there is no middle man. The gift of the Holy Spirit means that we can now all go to God directly! This privilege is open to all; young and old, men and women – all who call on the God’s name (Acts 2:17,39).

So why do we persist in being satisfied with the use of a ‘middle man’?

Perhaps it is our weaknesses and failures that keep us from openly facing God. We are fearful of what he might say. Maybe we think that others are somehow more eligible to hear from him – we don’t realize that the promise of direct access to God is available to all of us. Or perhaps it is just because we are just too lazy to take the time to listen!

There are times when we need middle men; when we need someone else to carry us into the presence of God. Intercessors pray when we don’t have the words to speak. Others prophesy when our doubts paralyze our walk with God. That is the beauty of the Body of Christ - of ministering one to another.

But when we continually seek God through the life of another person, we will always experience a secondhand relationship. We will perpetuate the misguided belief that someone else is more favoured than us and we will lose the opportunity to develop true intimacy with God.

God’s promise is that we will ALL know him personally – that our faith will not be based on someone’s else’s experience. Don’t miss out on the awe of experiencing God for yourself by being content to use a middle man. Face him openly, allow him to search your heart and then listen as he speaks directly to your heart.

No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest," declares the LORD. (Jeremiah 31:34)

The Last Thing He Said

God spoke to me this week. Experience has taught me that when God speaks it is always with considered intentionality. There’s a profound insight to reflect on, a new instruction to follow or some exciting insight about the future. There is always something new. But this time there wasn’t. In fact it was just a repeat of everything he had already said in the last month or two…

But God there is nothing new?
No, nothing new…
So what’s the point of this?
Well, have you done the last thing I said?
Ah sort of, still working on it. But it’s a little bit difficult and I was hoping I you would change your mind?? That maybe you would forget and we could move onto something else?

That’s the thing with God… He isn’t one to change his mind. He’s not easily distracted from his purpose. When he speaks, it’s never in a last minute rush or as a glib afterthought. When he speaks, he means it.

Too often we treat God’s words just like ours.

Our words aren’t always worth remembering. They flow feebly from our mouths with little thought given to consequences. We exaggerate and embellish; we spin and we slander; spouting claims that are half true and making promises we can’t keep.

But God’s words are spirit and they’re life. They have the power to create. Once spoken they are watched over to ensure they fulfill their purpose. They transcend time, overrule circumstances and overtake the generations. They must come to pass, for to fail is to defy the nature of the One who spoke them.

By his words we live.

In learning how to hear the voice of God clearly and consistently, the key is responding to what he says. He means what he said last time! He wants us to listen and obey. His words are sovereignly timed and purposed to bring good to our lives.

So if you are struggling to hear his voice right now, perhaps the first thing to ask is, have you done the last thing he said?

God Encounters of the 21stC Kind

One of the most fun aspects of my job as I travel is collecting “God-stories”. Everywhere I go I hear testimony after testimony of people who have encountered God firsthand in some tangible way. There is nothing like it! People need to experience the living God in supernatural ways today just as they did in the 1st century… Jesus himself said: Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. (John 14:11-12)

So I thought I would share some of their stories* here. Let’s keep believing for God-encounters - in our lives - and in the lives of others!

Sherida, a Nepalese lady who has recently migrated to New Zealand, was diagnosed with cervical cancer and tuberculosis. She was transferred to intensive care and because of complications, the prognosis wasn’t good. Medications were making her sicker than ever and doctors held little hope for her recovery.

It was on her deathbed that Sherida began experiencing supernatural encounters in the night. One night seven foot angels stood at her bedside, in another she saw Jesus dressed in white robes saying; ‘Do not be afraid’ in Nepalese.

But the night that changed everything was when an angel came and fed her with a “very shiny red pill”. When she woke in the morning she immediately felt better. She went to the bathroom and a large ugly black mass fell out of her body into the toilet. Days later, the oncologist reported her cancer free…

A returned New Zealand missionary who works in an orphanage in northern India tells of the children in his home experiencing visions of heaven during times of worship. They see children that have died; they play with animals they have never seen before in life, eat fruit that regrows immediately after it is picked and visit the throneroom of God. Amazingly their stories are validated by the fact that they all tell of the same things. Some of their recollections are straight out of scenes in the book of Revelation – passages they have never read… Their visions and experiences give them hope in an often difficult life in India.

A man I met recently at a wedding shared his story. He was a gangster and a convicted criminal who had no belief in God… until God started speaking to him in dreams:

In this dream my three brothers and I were standing on the front lawn of my parent’s home. It was a sunny afternoon. Then it started to get dark and cold, the wind began picking up and in a matter of seconds a storm engulfed the whole place. Clouds were swirling over the city and a tornado formed, tearing apart city buildings. The tube was getting larger and larger as it quickly moved towards us at a phenomenal rate. I could see cars, whole houses, trees and people being taken up into the tube. I screamed out, "run let's get out here", but I couldn't move my legs. I looked at my brothers, shouting at them to run but they didn't flinch, they just stared at the tornado.

Then a beam of intense bright light pierced through the heart of the tornado and was shining over my oldest brother Risto. I looked at him, he was bright white. He looked happy, then he disappeared with the beam of light into the tornado. Instantly the wind stopped, the tornado dispersed and the clouds started to break apart, changing colours like the rainbow. The sun was shining and my other brothers walked away from me into house.

I shared with my brother Risto about the dream at a BBQ at my parents home on New Year’s Eve. I told him I believed he was in danger of death and to be careful. He said to me, "If the Lord wants to take me that's fine". "What do you mean?" I replied. “That’s rubbish!”

"I'm a Christian, I believe in Jesus Christ. If I die, I am peaceful about where I am going. Hopefully you understand one day what it's all about - don't worry it will work out just fine", was Risto’s reply.

Three days later, my brother Risto was killed on police duty. That was the beginning of my journey learning to know that God was real.

*Stories shared with permission

The Law of our Hearts

“What’s your view on homosexuality?”

It came out of nowhere… a random question in the middle of the day. I looked at my friend – a thoughtful guy with some sort of Sunday School background and leftist persuasions - and quickly realised that no matter how articulate my answer it was bound to be misunderstood.

So instead of starting an eloquent monologue on the theology of natural law, biblical hermeneutics and the ethics of love, I answered with another question: “How do you determine what is right and wrong; what is ‘good’ behaviour and what is not?”

The conversation moved from ethics to philosophy to the notion of absolute truth – “there is some truth out there, but we haven’t found it yet.” And then, “Christianity is just a bunch of rules anyway.”

In the end our conversation never really addressed the issue of homosexuality. It ended with my comment; “Oh if you really knew God and how fantastic he was, you would really like him. You’ve just been around some really bad advertising.”

A lot of people have. Why is it that Christianity is known as ‘a bunch of rules’ when we are the only world religion which has grace at it’s a core? Where the punishment that we deserve for our wrong has been taken by someone else simply because we are loved? Why are we known for judgmentalism* when our own judgment has been removed?

Jesus said the whole law is summed up in two things. Love God and love people. These ‘laws’ are now written on our hearts rather than on ‘tablets of stone’ (2 Corinthians 3:3). In place of a long list of external rules is the person of the Holy Spirit who inspires us to act out of love. We live for others not because anyone is telling us too, but because we want to. It’s a new heart that transforms us and motivates us to walk in grace.

Where the Spirit is absent, we need laws. We revert to hard legalism. We head back to the pre-Pentecost days where rules were needed to regulate behavior. But a quick overview of the Old Testament reminds us that it never worked then. So why do we think it will work now? We were promised something better.

We should be known as the most loving, gracious, non-judgmental people on earth. People who love unconditionally and refuse to throw stones at the guilty; who humbly walk in the Spirit and live undeniably holy lives set apart for his glory. People who love others with such passion and unconditionality that people are drawn – to like our God - and perhaps even to love him.

You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. (2 Cor. 3:3)

*See the research findings of David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyon’s book, UnChristian.

Why does God Show us the Future?

God showed me the house I am living in now a year before I moved in. The job I am doing today I saw years ago. Some of the people I currently work with, God spoke about before I met them.

We were promised this. When Jesus returned to heaven, he sent his Holy Spirit that we would see the world through his eyes. We would all be able to prophesy and have dreams and visions (Acts 2:16). That means occasionally God will show us glimpses of the future. He will tell us “great and unsearchable things we do not know” (Jer.33:3). This is the privilege of every New Covenant Christian.

But seeing the future is not just to satiate our curiosity for what is around the corner. There are good reasons for why God shows us what he does…

1. So we get to know his heart
When God gives us a glimpse of his plans, it provides something far more than a crystal ball experience. It is an expression of his desires and his will; the things he intends and longs for. When he reveals the future, it is a statement of his purpose: I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please. (Is. 46:10)

2. So we can co-operate with what we see
Having a vision of the future is a thrilling experience. It gives us hope and encouragement for a better future (Jer. 29:11).

But sometimes we assume that the picture we see is a fait accompli. We adopt a fatalistic stance: a kind of “if it is God it will happen” approach. Yet a quick overview of the Bible shows us that not everything God revealed actually happened. Moses didn’t enter the Promised Land; Saul did not retain his kingdom - and many of the Israelites died in exile.

One of the main reasons for God’s acts of revelation is so that we co-operate with what we see. We partner with God to bring “his will to earth as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6:10). That usually means action of some sort; an agreement with him in word and deed. Faith and obedience now needs to kick in.

3. So we know it's him when it comes to pass
Skeptics I know will often claim answers to prayer as mere coincidences. Things just happened to ‘work out’; the universe came to equilibrium; circumstances turned around ‘fortuitously’.

When God speaks the future and it then unfolds before us, there can be no doubt of his hand. Those who have heard him speak beforehand get a bird’s eye view – a front-row seat to his sovereign ways. There is nothing like it! As witnesses of his glory, we can only worship...

Which of them foretold this and proclaimed to us the former things? …"You are my witnesses," declares the LORD, "and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me. (Isaiah 43:9-11)

Stairway to Heaven

He was a young man of great potential. With the legacy of his famous forefathers and a powerful destiny on his life, his future was bright. But a life of deception and family dysfunction leaves him confused and desperate, fleeing a murderous brother and exiled from his homeland with only a stone for a pillow.

Jacob was the second-born son of Isaac and Rebekah and inheritor of the great Abrahamic promises, but he had never personally experienced the transformational encounter of his father’s God or embraced the holy lifestyle required of a great leader.

It all changed in one night. For the first time Jacob encounters the presence of God. And it happens in a dream.


He sees the skies opening before him. Angels climb a stairway that reaches far into the heavens. He hears a voice speaking to him; calling him to his future. These were not second-hand promises passed on from his father, but a direct invitation to divine relationship – a gateway to the presence of God.


The dream changes Jacob’s life. He had gone to sleep feeling lost and alone; alienated from God. He wakes up knowing God’s presence and seeing past the natural circumstances. Surely the Lord was in this place and I did not know it (Genesis 28:16). For the first time, he makes a genuine commitment to follow God and takes the first steps towards his destiny. He meets God in a dream!

Tertullian one of the early church theologians of the 2nd and 3rd centuries (AD.160-230) – the man famous for his writings on the Trinity – made this statement: “Nearly everyone on earth knows that God reveals himself to people most often in dreams.”

So is the potential of our dreams. Jacob’s dream revealed a gateway to heaven and a meeting place with Almighty God. The dream rolled back the curtain separating the natural world and unveiling the spiritual realm. Today God still wants to reveal himself to us. Like Jacob he wants to show us our futures, give us vision beyond our current circumstances and call to us personally in the midst of our everyday lives. Let's be people that are awake to these life-changing revelations of the night!

God is Better than Santa

At one of many Christmas parties this past season, I heard a great story told by a local Preschool teacher. One of their end-of-year activities was to write letters to Santa asking for what they wanted for Christmas. A new Cinderella doll… A puppy dog to play with. The teacher modelled the exercise by writing her own Christmas letter... “Dear Santa, for Christmas I would like a beautiful diamond ring.” They signed off their letters, drew pictures of their gifts and carefully pinned them to the display wall for all to see.

On the final day of Preschool, one of the parents presented a small parcel to the teacher in appreciation for all her hard work and dedication. The teacher thanked the mother, happy to add another gift to her growing pile of chocolates and body lotions. But this gift was unlike the others. It shocked her to the core. There in the carefully wrapped box was a diamond ring, a perfect gold-set solitaire of the highest quality. 'Santa' had granted her wish!

The story got me thinking. The teacher received because she asked. If she had not asked, there would be no diamond ring gracing her finger.

It reminded me of one of Jesus’ more radical statements. “You do not have, because you do not ask God…” (James 4:2)

He gives us what we ask for. Why? Simply because that’s what loving fathers do. Ask any parent. Knowing their child’s heart, they search the department stores for the right gift; the one thing that will make their child’s face light up with joy. How much more the Father-heart of God?

Last year I asked God if I could have more outdoor adventures. Not long after I was paid to go skiing and hiking. At 17 I asked God if I could return to Switzerland one day. Years later, it was the scene of my first ministry trip. More recently I asked God if I could have a home with a bay window. The next day a friend received a prophetic dream of my future home. The key feature: a bay window.

The only qualifier to this outlandish statement of Jesus’ is that we ask with the right motives (James 4:3). So… is my heart aligned to kingdom purpose? Am I willing to use my gifts to bless others? Am I open to him saying 'no' or 'wait' for reasons that are for good, even if I don’t know what they are right now?

So with our motives in place, ASK away!!! As we begin a new year; as we dream and plan for 2010, I encourage you… Dig deep into your imagination, search the pool of your desires and ask! Ask your loving Father for what you need… and for what you want. God is so much better than Santa.