THRIVE NOT JUST SURVIVE

Hebrews 12-13 NLT So take a new grip with your tired hands and strengthen your weak knees. Mark out a straight path for your feet so that those who are weak and lame will not fall but become strong.

I was chatting with someone yesterday and they have just been through a prolonged season of testing but they are now coming out the other side and have proved God’s faithfulness to them. They’re not just surviving, they’re thriving and it was so encouraging to hear. 

Maybe we look around at people and see them strong in the Lord, but we don’t know what they’ve been through, the battles they have fought and won, to reach that place.😊

So what is their secret? How do we finish our race of life strong in the Lord and in the power of His might? How do we thrive, not just survive?

Jesus said that the way to build our house was on the rock of His teaching, not just hearing it, but obeying it because then, when the storms of life hit, they won’t be able to bring us down. In order to do that though we have to know what God’s word says so we can follow His instructions.

God says if we’re willing and obedient to His word we can eat the good of the land, that if we keep His word in our mouths and meditate on it we shall have success. It’s not just for those on the platforms, it’s for you and me, for we are all the sheep of His pasture, all His children. We all matter to Him and He wants every one of us to finish well with our eyes fixed on Jesus and all He has done for us.

God’s wants us to be a people of power, a people of praise, but He recognises we all need encouragement especially when we’re going through trials! So I’m here today to remind us we’re on the Victory Team, even if we’ve been feeling a bit earth bound or weak-kneed.😊

Let’s keep looking to the Lord to strengthen us as we run our race, practice doing whatever His word says, and remind ourselves we’re seated with Him far above whatever tries to bring us down, so we can thrive and not just survive. In Jesus name. Amen.

Photo: Todd Quackenbush on Unsplash

BE LIFTED UP

Isaiah 41:10 NLT Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.

The other morning I rescued a ladybird which was sitting in a puddle of water in my washing up bowl. Why she didn’t just use her wings I don’t know, maybe all she could see was grey bowl and she felt trapped. When I lifted her up and put her on the worktop she was upside down with all her little legs wiggling about but I turned her the right way up and she disappeared eventually after she’d dried out.

I was thinking we can be a bit like that. Maybe we’re sitting in a puddle of self pity, or a puddle of grumpiness and all we can see is grey bowl. Maybe it’s a puddle of discouragement or despair over some situation. It’s when we need someone to rescue us and remind us we have wings of hope, eagles wings to lift us up above the puddle, whatever kind it is. 

So be encouraged today, remember you are chosen by God before you were born, before the world came into existence, God chose you. 

So even if you feel trapped, or you’re all upside down, He’s telling you today that He still has good plans for you, that His love is so vast you will never come to the end of it, even in eternity ages to come. It’s from everlasting to everlasting so let His love dry your wings out. Let it dissolve your doubts and your fears and your grumbles.

Believe His word and allow Him to put you back on your feet on solid ground where He can show you what He wants to do for you, and what He has put in you still waiting to come out and be a blessing to others.

If a ladybird can do it so can you.😊 Lift up your head and let the King of Glory come in, but whatever you do don’t stay in the puddle! Stretch your wings. The Holy Spirit is there to help you, strengthen you and lift you up as you go into your new week. In Jesus name. Amen.