WE RECEIVE FROM HIM BY FAITH

 1Corinthians 12:4 There are various kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit.

Yesterday we looked at receiving the Holy Spirit by faith and how important He is to us. One reason is because He equips us with His spiritual gifts which we receive from Him by faith. 

v.7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all.

So the great news today is that these supernatural gifts are given to each one of us by the Holy Spirit as He directs, to benefit everybody. He gives different gifts to each of us but I believe as the need arises He will give us whichever gift is most needed at any given time.  They are not for the so called  'super Christians', they are for all of us.  That should bless us to know that. God has given to each of us a gifting to help build up the church.

As a reminder, here is the list of the nine gifts in this chapter. It's good to read in the Amplified Bible if you get the chance.

• The word of wisdom. 
• The word of knowledge. 
• Faith by the same Spirit (that's special miracle working faith separate to the faith we already have). 
• Gift of healings
• Working of miracles.
• Prophecy.
• Discerning of Spirits.
• Different kinds of tongues.
• Interpretation of tongues.

v.11 but one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.

Why has God made all these supernatural gifts available to us as believers?  Because He knows we will need them throughout our day to day lives, and He doesn't want us helpless but power full.  In another chapter Paul tells us to seek after the gifts, to pursue them. That's a strong statement so it must be important for us to do it.  

There is a temptation to think 'oh those sorts of things are not for me. They're only for the leaders, or for 'special' people.'  Can I encourage you to know you are one of those special people! God wants all of His children to be moving in the gifts His Holy Spirit gives. They are for all of us, not a few!  We all have at least one of these gifts! How sad it is when someone presents you with a gift and you turn your back and say 'no thanks. I don't want it!' How hurtful that would be.

May we have a heart today that reaches out in faith to God and says 'Thank you Lord for the giftings you have given to me. Help me to know how to recognise them,  pursue them and use them for your glory.' Amen.

ISN'T FAITH WONDERFUL!

Galations 3:14 that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

Ephesians 5:18 but be filled with the Spirit.  Ephesians 3:19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Today we're looking at another reason we need faith. 

God tells us in these verses that we receive the Holy Spirit by faith and that He wants us to be filled with His Holy Spirit because when we are then we will be filled with God Himself, filled with Jesus' Spirit.

If something is filled up then there is no room for anything else. When your fridge is full after going shopping it only stays full for a short time before you eat something and there are empty shelves again.

We are like the fridge, we all need to be replenished in our spirits with more of the Holy Spirit because as we pour out we'll empty out without a fresh infill and we all know what that looks like! Grumpy, tired, depressed, negative...

When we fill up with the Holy Spirit, we fill up on the fullness of God and we do it by faith in His Word. We'll be filling up with His peace even during the storms,  filling up with His unconditional love for us, so we can pour it out on others. We'll be filling up with His 'dunamis' dynamite power and strength by faith in His promises. We'll fill up on His joy knowing we're at one with Him and nothing can separate us from His love.

Everyday we need to go to God's petrol pump and plug in to Him and His Word until our tank is filled up again with His Holy Spirit. And how do we do that? - by faith!

Jesus told us He couldn't do anything except His Father did it through Him. He was reminding us we can't do this life without God's help and instruction. But when we do it full of His Holy Spirit's power we shall do it well for His glory.

So, by faith, let's get so full of God's fullness there's no room for anything else, grumpy or otherwise! What a thought!😊 Isn't faith wonderful!

LIGHT AS USUAL WHERE YOU LIVE

Exodus 10:22-23 ...deep darkness covered the entire land of Egypt for three days. v.23 During all that time the people could not see each other, and no one moved. But there was light as usual where the people of Israel lived.

v.22. sounds a bit like our present circumstances throughout the world doesn't it?   It feels like deep darkness and no one is supposed to be moving about! But for the people of God there is light as usual. 

It is wonderful to know and remember our God is Light and that we are children of the Light.  We are not a people who live in darkness because we have the light that shined in the darkness at creation, living right inside of us. His miracle working power, His glorious presence, His peace and joy are actually living within our spirit man so we no longer are like those who don't know Him. We are living in the Light and His Light is living in us.

I have to ask myself sometimes, does my face reflect the Light living inside me or is it reflecting what is going on in the world? How about yours?  I pray we will be a people who 'shine' with the Light of God on our faces so people are drawn to ask why we're different to them, where we get our peace from? 

The truth is we are different to them because God is in our lives and they can know Him and His peace too if they want to. 

As we stand today, and the coming days, in the grace of God, in the 'light' of the resurrection of Jesus, we will have a 'lightness' and a light in our spirits which will shine for Jesus.

Colossians 1:12-14 always thanking the Father. He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to his people, who live in the light. For He has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of His dear Son, who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins.

Thank You Lord.

THE 'WHAT IF'S' !

Exodus 4:1 But Moses protested again. "What if they won't believe me or listen to me? What if they say. "The Lord never appeared to you?"

Excuses! God tells Moses He wants him to go back to Egypt to deliver the Israelites but Moses really does not want to go so he finds any number of excuses why he can't do it.

Maybe Moses' history was looming up bigger than his present and his future. He just couldn't see how it could happen. Indeed all he 'saw' was failure and humiliation. He 'saw' himself stuttering, stumbling for words. He 'saw' himself ridiculed as no one would believe God sent him. He 'saw' himself hunted for murdering the Egyptian all those years ago. He remembered his failure. What would people say? He 'saw' the wrong things.

                   HIS PAST APPEARED BIGGER THAN HIS PRESENT AND HIS FUTURE 

He didn't 'see' the victory that God declared. He didn't 'see' the end result only the past and present defeat. He didn't believe it was possible. He was stuck in a box of his own making. He needed delivering from himself as much as the children of Israel needed delivering from the Egyptians!  Ever been there?

But God wouldn't change His plan. He didn't give up on Moses. Doesn't that encourage you?  God overcame his excuses and instead He gave him someone to help him do the job he was called to do. 

We can all find 20 reasons why God should use someone else; they're more gifted, more talented, more eloquent, more charismatic, cleverer, better looking, younger!

The bottom line is, when God calls us to do something He knows best and maybe our very weaknesses will be the reason He chose us because He knows we'll have to depend on Him and not try to do it in our own ability.

This is a word for someone today.  Is God telling you to do something, speak to someone, go somewhere? 

May I suggest that you dump the excuses, dump the past, dump the failures, dump the 'what if's' and fears and just do it. God knows what He's doing! If He says you can, then you can! End of!  JUST DO IT! 

GOD ACCEPTS US BECAUSE OF JESUS

Romans 3:27-28 Can we boast then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith. So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law.

We're made right with God through faith in Jesus, not once and then we have to do our best and muddle along somehow, but every day. So today, if we make a mistake we're not made right with God by 'doing stuff' to put it right again. No, we're still made right with God through faith in Jesus and His finished work on the cross. How many times have we maybe fallen into the trap of thinking 'if I pray more, or longer, if I read more scriptures, if I do more good works, if I keep the commandments, if I give more, if I......the list goes on and we've 'tried' to do better to win God's approval, or His forgiveness, or His acceptance.   

We've forgotten one of the fundamentals of faith that we're made right with God, accepted by Him, always and only through faith in what Jesus has already done and not one ounce of our own efforts. When we try to add our pennyworth are we not implying that what Jesus has done is not enough?  

Romans 5:1 Therefore, since we have been made right in God's sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. v. 2 Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand...

So be encouraged, we're standing in a place of undeserved privilege because of God's great grace to us in giving us Jesus and we can know that because of God's wonderful grace we can run to Him instead of running away from Him and receive His forgiveness when we need it.  When we truly believe that, the Holy Spirit will be constantly at work in us changing us from one degree of glory to another.

Praise His Wonderful Name.

FAITH IS THE KEY

Hebrews 11:1 Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.

T.J.Packer says "Faith is the most important thing in the world. It is the link between ourselves and the God of transforming love..."

Faith in someone means you're totally convinced you can trust them, and rely on them. 

God said, Hebrews 11:6 And it is impossible to please God without faith...

Jesus said, John 20:27  "Do not be unbelieving but believing." 

So why is faith important? because it's impossible to please God without it, because it links us to Him and until we have that link we are unable to enter into all the goodness and blessings He has for us, to know forgiveness of our sins, and to receive eternal life.  

Without faith in Jesus we are not only stumbling through this life but there is no way we can go to Heaven without Him because through Him we have our sins forgiven and the door is opened.

Faith is the key to this life and the life to come, because faith is trusting God is who He says He is, and that He will do what He says He will do in His Word. It's called saving faith and it's not just a one time thing, it leads us into a moment by moment experience.

Ephesians 2:8 For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.

Saved for what? A personal, close relationship with God as our Father, with our sins forgiven, walking through life with Him as part of His family, knowing Him and receiving the gift of eternal life.

Saved from what? An eternity in hell, separated from God and His love forever.

Who needs faith?  Every single one of us if we ever want to go to Heaven and live an abundant life in the here and now.

God loves us and He wants us, and all He asks of us is to trust Him and His Word, and believe Jesus is His Son, that He died on the cross for our sins, that He's been raised from the dead and is now victorious in Heaven, our Lord and Saviour.

So that is the bedrock we build our house of faith on. It is just the beginning. In the days to come I hope to dig in to the Word to find what faith will do for us and the joy it will bring.😊

If anyone in the world is reading this who doesn't know Jesus yet as your Lord and Saviour may I invite you into God's family because He loves you, whoever you are, and to pray the Salvation Prayer on the Homepage of this blog and make sure you are on your way to Heaven.

FAITH MAKES YOU FEEL GREAT!

1 Corinthians 16:13  Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong.

We each have to stand in faith for ourselves. No one else can do it for us. No one else can put our armour on or lift up the shield of faith for us. That is our responsibility and privilege to do it.

When I overcame my fears the other day and went out in faith, trusting in God,  I came home again with such a sense of victory over the enemy it was great. Faith makes you feel great!

Yesterday we remembered that God gives each one of us the measure of His faith and it's up to each of us whether we use it and exercise it to make it stronger. God will not do it for us. 

Faith is like a muscle, it only gets stronger when we exercise it which is why some are weak in faith and some people seem to have more faith than others.  The difference is because some have used their faith and some haven't.  

So our job is to make our faith grow. Romans 10:17 tells us how to do it. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. 

Faith doesn't come by having heard the Word 5 years ago, but by hearing and hearing, present tense in the now.  A lot of people are hearing the voice of the media, and hearing and hearing it all day on tv and that produces fear more often than not. 

What are we hearing and hearing all day? If we really want our faith to grow we'll need to be hearing and hearing the Word of God and then being doers of the Word we're hearing.  Does that make sense to you? Hearing the Word can be reading and learning scripture so we keep 'hearing' it in our minds, or listening to or reading faith filled testimonies, or listening to faith filled messages in church or on cd/mp3 or God anointed programmes or internet. Faith grows by keeping company with faith filled, faith minded people who build us up and challenge us to get stronger; people who believe that with God all things are possible!

Why is faith so important?  Well so far I've found at least 22 reasons in scripture that God gives us so with God's help I hope to look at some of them over the coming days. It's very exciting so I hope you can come on the journey with me as we grow in faith together so we can stand firm and be courageous and strong together, and oh yes, feel great!😁 

HAS GOD INDEED SAID? YES!

Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, "Has God indeed said, ...?"

When we read scripture we read God's promises, His words to us to be taken personally. All the promises of God are yes and Amen in Jesus Christ.  We nod our heads and say "Yes, Amen", and we're fine until we hear that insidious voice in our heads which says "Has God indeed said....?"

What we reply at that point will determine whether we follow Eve's sad example or whether we stand in faith and say "Yes!  God has said... and I believe it and I'm putting up my shield of faith so get out of here Satan."

Yesterday morning I had a very clear dig in the ribs from the Lord asking me what I thought I was doing hiding away and not doing my own shopping.  Had He not given me Psalm 91 to stand on with all it's amazing promises especially for such a time as this?  

I realised I'd let fear sneak in through various means and it messed up my faith.  Ever had that happen to you?  I had asked my daughter to do my shopping and the Lord said "Why would I protect your daughter and not you?  Why would she be any harder for me to protect than you? Why wont you trust me?"  Ouch!

So once again I got Psalm 91 out, declared it over my life, stood on it in faith and went to do my own shopping, knowing I was covered by His feathers and His wings were over me, that His angels had charge of me and not to be afraid that the pestilence would harm me; that no plague would come near me and no evil would befall me.  I stomped on the lions and cobras, told them to get lost and with renewed confidence went out and did what I needed to do. Yes I followed the government's instructions to the letter but I went out in faith, not in fear.

Now none of the above might be a problem to you but maybe there is another area where the enemy is whispering doubts in your ear. If so, can I encourage you to stomp on some lions and cobras today whatever shape they take for you?

Confession is good for the soul they say, so I hope I've encouraged someone else to stand on the promises of God, to trust Him anew today in whatever way He asks you to.  It gives Him no pleasure to see us hiding away and while we must abide by government instructions  we are not to fear in any way.  HE WILL KEEP YOU SAFE!

CONSIDER NOT!

Romans 4:18-20 who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, so shall your descendants be." v.19 And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah's womb. v.20 He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God.

"How are you today?" "Well considering everything that's going on, I'm managing."  We've all said something like that I expect.

Abraham was a wonderful example to us and he'd learned one or two things over the course of his 100 years.  One of them was when God said something, he didn't have to think it through, or think about it. He just took it as read and went with it regardless of what things looked like.  God called it faith and the good news is we all have a measure of it and it's the God kind of faith so we can all walk in it. Isn't that good news?  I hope it makes us shout Whoopee!

Abraham didn't consider his body when God said he would have a son.  He didn't consider his lack or his own inability in the natural. How amazing is that! 

So what has God told you or me and we've been tempted to ignore it or not believe it because it's 'out there' but instead we've considered our own lack, our own inability.  Maybe we've looked at our bank balance or other resources and thought it can't happen. We've looked at the doctor's report, then we've looked at our bodies and considered those instead of God's promise.

No! Consider not your lack, your inability, just believe God. God has no lack, no inability and He's the one backing you.  

Abraham considered not his own body. He didn't even let that in his thinking! God said he'd have a son so he said something like, "Bless God I'm having a son! That's it, I've got a son!"

So today, if God has said something to you don't consider anything else. Just believe it and receive it by faith and don't let anyone shake you off it. Amen.

COMMAND OR COMFORT?

Isaiah 1:19 If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land.

During lockdown the tendency is to hunker down and just 'get through' it all; to have the mindset that says we can't do anything anyway so why bother?

But what if lockdown is a preparation ground? What if God is trying to get us to listen during the enforced inactivity to show us His plans for after lockdown?  What if God is rebirthing something that will take our breath away, personally, locally and nationally?  If we're not listening in faith we could miss it and how awful that would be.

What if He is trying to reposition people, with new people coming in and others being commissioned out?  What if He asked you to move what would you do?  What if He asked you to stay, what would you do?   What if someone you think highly of  is being called elsewhere, would you bless them and let them go? What if He wants your son or daughter to move away would you try to stop it or give them your blessing to follow God's plans for their lives.   

We were faced with that very thing over 18 years ago when our then 18 year old was led to Australia to train at Hillsong Australia.  He is still there, serving God and raising a family.  Our children are given to us by God to raise in the faith and then if He calls them elsewhere we are to let them go, whether they are young or older.  Is it easy? No. It was the hardest thing the Lord has ever asked me to do. Did it cause heartache? In one sense yes it did, but in another it brought joy to know he is fulfilling God's call and purpose in his life.  If we truly love our children and others, we will only want the best for them even when it means personal sacrifice, otherwise we have a selfish love, what's best for us not them. When God calls them, our job is to send them out with our blessing.

It works the other way too. Are we willing to leave our parents when we're asked to?  Jesus challenged us on that in Matthew 10:37.  It's one thing to be obedient, it's another thing to be willing and obedient!

Who am I speaking to today? I have no idea but God is speaking to someone or maybe us all.  

God is speaking to each one of us about something, are we willing to obey with a right attitude, to put His Command above our Comfort?  

GOD WANTS TO SIT DOWN AND BE AT EASE WITH US...

Psalm 22:3 But thou art holy, O thou that inhabits the praises of Israel (KJV)

To inhabit means to dwell, to be at ease, to sit down, and this scripture tells us God 'inhabits' the praises of His people. I just get this picture of God coming into our room and being at ease with us, relaxing, sitting down and getting comfortable ready to talk with us and share the affairs of the day the joys and the concerns, to bless us with His presence.

Why would He do that? Because we've welcomed Him in with our praises and thanksgiving.  That doesn't necessarily even mean we've sung Him a song it just means we've let Him know how very much we appreciate Him and His goodness to us. We've let Him know we think He's above all others for us, that without His presence our day is lost and empty; that we love Him.  

When I want to praise someone I don't go up to them and say or sing 'I praise you, I praise you.' They'd look at me a bit oddly but if I go up and say what an amazing job they made of something, or what a lovely person they are, then they will really appreciate it. Meaningful praise is in the details when we take the time to put into words why He is so awesome and worthy of praise.

God tells us throughout scripture not to complain and grumble and part of the reason for that is because He can't 'inhabit' our complaints.  God doesn't 'do' complaining and He even goes so far as to tell us that when we do complain and moan we're actually opening the door to the enemy - not to Him! (1 Corinthians 10:10)  Apart from that it makes us so grumpy!!

I know I want the Lord to be at ease, to draw close to me and me to Him at any given moment, so I can share that moment with Him and acknowledge His part in it; to stop and maybe take 2 minutes to acknowledge His goodness in giving me the breath I breathe, His love in reconciling me to Him so I can fellowship with Him, to praise Him for food on the table when so many are without. The list is endless.  How can we not praise Him?

How about you? Will you join with me in taking our eyes off ourselves and our world, and take our praise to a whole new level in 2021 and see God inhabit our praises?  In His presence is fullness of joy. 

GOD NEVER LEAVES US ALONE

Hebrews 13:5(b) for He (God) Himself has said, I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support. (I will) not, (I will) not, (I will) not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let (you) down (relax My hold on you)! (Assuredly not!). 

v.6 So we take comfort and are encouraged and confidently and boldly say, The Lord is my Helper; I will not be seized with alarm (I will not fear or dread or be terrified). What can man do to me?(Amplified Bible)

The Holy Spirit reassures us in this verse over and over again of how much God is looking out for us and looking after us.  Apparently in the original text of this verse God says three times He will neither leave us, give us up or fail us.  Another version says He will not abandon us.

He wants us to be totally secure in Him, no matter what things look like or feel like. No matter how long a situation lasts God will outlast it and so will we when we keep looking to Him.  

He is our wonderful Saviour, our wonderful Provider, our wonderful Support, and Helper, the One who never lets us down and who will never abandon us.

HE NEVER LEAVES US ALONE. Praise God!  So whether it's in the dead of night when things seem blackest, or whether we've had upsetting news, or whether we're rejoicing - God is there with us every second and we can turn to Him and know He is there for us, supporting and helping us.

Thank You Lord for Your Word for reminding us of Your promises to us today and everyday.

THE LORD DIRECTS OUR STEPS

Proverbs 20:24 The Lord directs our steps, so why try to understand everything along the way? (Nlt).

When you're asked to do something do you usually like to know the whys and wherefores before you do it?   It's a bit like when we were first asked to wear a mask. We weren't that keen, but when we understood why, it was easier to obey. Understanding sometimes helps, but God obviously thinks it's over rated when He tells us not to lean on our own understanding! (Proverbs 3:5-6)  Our understanding is very limited so it holds us back from doing what God wants.

When He asks us to do something He doesn't have to explain why, He just wants us to trust Him and to obey.  We'd like the 10 step plan in advance, but it doesn't happen that way. It's because He is our Lord and Master as well as our Saviour and Friend. 

Remember Romans 10:9? It says  "if you confess with your mouth the LORD Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved". It said to make Him Lord of our lives which is a very big difference. It requires surrender of ourselves, even surrendering our 'whys', believing that His way will be far better and for our good, knowing He really loves us and holds us in the palm of His hand; He sees the end from the beginning.

We all want the Lord to direct our steps each day and for the future, but He says 'Will you trust Me enough to not keep asking me why certain things have happened, are happening, or taking you in a certain direction, but just do as I direct you? 

There are going to be times when we just don't understand things at all, personally and globally, and He may ask us to do things that wont make any sense perhaps to our natural mind because His ways are far above ours, but we can know for sure when we follow God's leading, we will be blessed and we'll have His inner peace that all will be well for the godly.  

God knows what He is doing, especially when He tells us to let go of leaning on our understanding, but to only trust and obey Him with praise and thanksgiving. He is our Good, Good, God.

GOD HAS MADE US OVERCOMERS

1 John 5:4 For whatever is born of God, overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world - our faith.

Scripture tells us to overcome three things, The World, The Flesh and The devil and our verse tells us what will do that - our faith in Jesus.

Romans 12 tells us not to be conformed to this world but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. When we're tempted to fall into World thinking instead of Kingdom thinking, it's good to remember that God has already made us Overcomers by our faith in Jesus.

Jesus says to give and it will be given to you. The world says hold on to what you've got.

Jesus says to do to others what you would like them to to do to you and to love your neighbour as yourself  but the world says look after number one first. 

God calls sexual relationships outside of marriage fornication and calls it sin, but the world calls it normal and acceptable. 

Jesus tells us not to judge people because we'll be judged with the same yardstick we give others. How many of us have fallen foul of that one?! 

As we know scripture goes on to deal with divorce, homosexuality, money, gossip, in fact every aspect of life. 

Without reading scripture we wouldn't know if any of our views are contrary to God's view.

So although these things may not be politically correct, it is important sometimes to remind ourselves that being a follower of Jesus requires us to obey Him, these are His commands not His suggestions, and it's not always easy; it may cost us but Jesus has made us Overcomers, not Giveiners! 

We know we can't do it on our own but we can do it  when we surrender to His Holy Spirit and ask for His supernatural help by being transformed by the renewing of our minds and forsaking 'our' view that we have inherited from the world. 

Should we feel condemned about any of the above? Jesus answered that one when He spoke to the woman caught in adultery. He said, "Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more."  Thank God when we've blown it, His grace is there for forgiveness, but His command is 'to sin no more'.  

Thank you Lord we're not trying to become Overcomers, you have already made us Overcomers by Your grace through faith in Jesus.

GOD'S ANTIDOTE TO HEAVINESS

Isaiah 61:1-3 “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, Because the Lord has anointed Me
To preach good tidings to the poor He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted.
To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.
2 our friends, our church, the 

When the enemy is pulling out  all his stops that is the time to remember that God has given us an antidote, a vaccination, if you like, to the virus of this spirit of heaviness that is prowling round waiting to pounce on us. So what is this antidote? It is the garment of praise. An antidote is a remedy when a form of poisoning is present.  That is what the enemy tries to do, He tries to poison our joy to make it ineffective so we lose our strength and we all fall foul of it sometimes.

God knew there would be times in all our lives when we would come under attack but as always God is a step ahead and He's given us the way out. It is the way of praise and thanksgiving, which takes our eyes off the circumstances and grief about situations, and back on to Him and all He has done for us. 

Isaiah 53 tells us Jesus has borne all our griefs and sorrows just as much as He bore our sins, and we need the faith He has already given us to to lay hold of that and declare it.

Praise reminds us of how big our God is. It reminds us that situations are never hopeless, that with God they can be turned around for good in a day and what God is looking for is our faith to reach out to Him in praise for His mercy and intervention.  It may not be the way we want it to be but when we pray for His kingdom to come and His will to be done then we are getting in agreement with Him and His plans because He knows best.

Faith believes all things are possible. Faith thanks God in advance for the solution before we see it.

So can I encourage us all today, myself included, to be a tree of righteousness so that the Lord may be glorified in all that is happening in our world.  God made us for such a time as this, He has equipped us by His Spirit to handle whatever comes when we keep our eyes on Him and Him only. 

Let's lift up our praise to Him, giving Him thanks for all the good we see, and believe Him for the comfort for the griefs and sorrows Jesus has already born for us just like He has already born our sins away. We have much to praise Him for.😊

Let's take our antidote today. Let's get dressed in praise today.😊

  

THE GOD WHO HEARS, WHO SEES

Genesis 16:11 And the angel also said, "You are now pregnant and will give birth to a son. You are to name him Ishmael (which means 'God hears'), for the Lord has heard your cry of distress.......v.13 Thereafter, Hagar used another name to refer to the Lord who had spoken to her. She said "You are the God who sees me.".... 

Have you ever felt like God's not listening and you've said 'Don't You care, God?'

I think Hagar was probably having one of those times. She had run away in great distress and had cried out. There are times when we find ourselves crying out in distress and when we do we can know that God hears us and that He knows not only the situation but what to do about it. He has the answer before we have the distress.

Hagar went a stage further in her revelation of God hearing her when she realised He could also see her. She suddenly realised He knew where she was, her circumstances, her situation, which seemed so hopeless and dire to her.  Yet in the midst of all that she found out that God had the answer if she would obey his instructions even when she didn't like them! She found out that God cared about her, a lowly servant girl with no rights, no power to put things right, no say in her own future and yet God cared about her and had a plan for her life and her future generations.

Doesn't that fill you with hope today?  Even when we may feel insignificant in the big scheme of things God hears us whether we cry out in distress for ourselves or for others. He knows and sees us and the situations we call out to Him for and we can know He has a plan and a purpose in it all.  

Hagar found out she was not alone, that God heard her cry and saw her.  I think God wants to remind each one of us today, whoever we are and whatever we are praying about, that we also are not alone, that He hears us and He sees us and He has the answer.  

We have a mighty, delivering God!

HE KEEPS ME SAFE!

Psalm 18:1-3 How I love you Lord! You are my defender. v.2 The Lord is my protector; he is my strong fortress. My God is my protection, and with him I am safe. He protects me like a shield; he defends me and keeps me safe. v.3 I call to the Lord, and he saves me from my enemies. Praise the Lord!

When I came down to breakfast this morning Chris had left this scripture out for me last night to read first thing this morning. Isn't God good! He brings His reassurance before we even start the day. He calms our fears with His words and His promises. What a Saviour! They are like a warm security blanket tucked in all around us.

God is always ahead of us, always has the answer, always causes us to be overcomers, to have the victory when our eyes are on Him. Glory to His name.

So when we have to go out for the necessities of life, like exercise and food, we can go out with His words ringing in our ears, the sure knowledge that He is our shield, He is keeping us safe and that He has given His angels charge over us.  The enemy has tried again and again to clip our wings with fear but he wont win if we don't let him.

It's interesting the Lord gave me the word yesterday about soaring high like an eagle. He was preparing us to wait on Him, to soak in His word and His goodness because He knew we would need that word by the end of the day.  

You see the promises of God are for the hard times, when things don't seem too brilliant, when things are contrary to how we'd like them to be in any area of life. It's then we really need to stand in faith on God's word regardless of how we feel, or what things look like.

He has told us this morning "with Him I am safe", so let's lay hold of that and in faith declare with the Psalmist "with my God, I am safe. He protects me like a shield." Amen.

HOW TO SOAR HIGH LIKE AN EAGLE

Isaiah 40:31 But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.

When the new year rolled over were you soaring high like an eagle or feeling rather weary, like your  energy had run out?  You see, the Lord knows us so well and He knows we get weary sometimes.

I was secretary to an architect once and every day he would come into the  drawing office where he had about eight architects drawing up new plans.  He'd examine their work and to some he'd say 'I'm sorry old chap, it just isn't good enough, you'll have to do it again!'  You could see how disheartened they were because they'd worked hard but He gave them no help, just demands. 

God is not like that!  He knows how wearing life can be, but He does tell us what to do about it.

We often get weary and fall into the enemy's trap when things don't change and we start to get fed up.  We've been looking at the circumstances and they've started to loom larger than God Himself and so we've forgotten to use our faith, that we can still trust Him to sort it all out and bring us through it 'above and not beneath'.  

Listen, God knows the end from the beginning and we can rest in that, knowing He is for us and He has already blessed us.  He is the One who is holding us in His hand just like he holds the stars in place. He is the One who puts breath in our bodies to wake us up each morning. He is the One who has never failed to keep His promises. He is the One who loves us beyond measure, who gives us fresh mercies every single day, who surrounds us with His favour like a shield.  He is Faithful to us. Be strengthened by that sure knowledge and allow it to soak into you until it is bigger than what wearies you. He says trust in the Lord and you will find new strength.  

So if you've been a bit weary, or a lot weary, come back and start soaking in His goodness again.  Let Him lift you up so you start to soar high like an eagle.  Let Him give you the strength to run and catch Him up again, then you'll be able walk with Him afresh and not grow weary or faint.

Let's start this new year with our eyes lifted up to Him, trusting Him and thanking Him for all His goodness and start to fly again!

SOMETHING BIG IS HAPPENING!

1 Peter 1:16  'for it is written, Be holy, because I am holy'. 

Happy New Year to anyone reading my blog and thank you for taking the time to read it.

This theme of what does God want for 2021 seems to be continuing.

When you listen to what is happening around the world in God's Church, many of His Spirit filled people are hearing the same thing in their spirits .....

God is bringing in a new mighty move of the Holy Spirit in the coming days with healings and miracles greater than anything seen before and which will bring in a huge wave of new believers.  This is a new era with things happening in the spirit realm that are so important in preparation for Jesus return.  

Isn't it easy for our eyes to be so fixed on the virus, the hospital admissions, brexit, etc., that we forget we are part of God's kingdom, and that His plans are far greater than anything that is happening right now. 

His plans are global and reaching into eternity but He wants us to get in agreement with His plans for the church wherever we happen to live, to be believing for His mighty move and ushering it in with faith filled prayer. 

So another part of the answer to what does God want for 2021 is also to realise we are part of something big and to allow God to demonstrate His power through us and believe God to intervene as we witness to people.

The other thing God is saying is His call to holiness, to let go of those things we know He's already challenging us about that grieve His Holy Spirit.  He is a holy God and He says 'Be holy, even as I am holy.'  Sometimes we conveniently forget that, or is it just me?  He is calling for obedience.

So the Lord has given us quite a lot to think about over the past three days but don't you get a sense of something BIG happening?  I do hope so.

Thank You Lord for giving us insights into what You are doing in the coming days and we ask you to help us align ourselves with all You want for us, to be believers and not doubters. Amen.