HOLD ON TIGHTLY!

Philippians 3:16 But we must hold on to the progress we have already made.

There are some fairground rides called ‘White Knuckle’ rides and you see people holding on so tightly their knuckles are white in case they’re thrown off! It can feel like that in life when everything seems to have come against us at the same time trying to throw us off balance!

So when we’ve been making progress, then find we seem to have been pushed back again what do we do then? Apostle Paul tells us. He says ‘we must hold on to the progress we have made’. He says we must do it, no matter what it takes, even if our knuckles are white! So how do we do it?

I believe it’s by thanking God for every little improvement, every little thing that may be better today than yesterday, that’s better than it was perhaps six weeks ago.  Even if we struggle to think of anything, we can still reach out in faith and thank God that He’s turning things around for us for good, even though some things may be worse, there really are things which are still ok!

We have an anchor of hope that will hold us steady and if we’ve pulled our anchor up recently, and started drifting into doubt, then put it back down and remember who we are anchored to - to Jesus, the One who makes blind eyes see, who speaks to storms and brings calm, who hasn’t changed and is still working miracles in our lives today.

God is speaking to all of us, no matter whether we’re in the middle of anything or not, to hold on to the progress we have made in any area of life. And to those who are dealing with things stay anchored to hope and He will rescue us, strengthen and help us come through it, not battered and bruised but victorious with a smile on our faces. 

And if everything is good with you just now, then maybe you can draw alongside someone who is drifting and struggling to hold on, who needs your encouragement, and help them to put their anchor back down into their God who keeps His promises and is the God of all hope.😊

Hebrews 10:23 Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm for God can be trusted to keep his promise.

WE ALL NEED AN ALARM BELL!

Philippians 4:8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things.

If anyone has anything of value like a car or a house, then the insurance company will say to put in alarms to protect our belongings from thieves. Some people go to great lengths to protect their property and even bicycles have sophisticated locks on them now!

The strange thing is, we’re more concerned with guarding our ‘things’ than we are about guarding our minds and our hearts which God says are actually far more important!

Proverbs 4:23 Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Guarding our heart can mean guarding our thought life and our emotions. Are we taking measures to protect them I wonder?

Occasionally I’ll hear a loud house alarm go off nearby and I thought, wouldn’t it  be good if we could have an alarm bell rigged up in our minds so that when the enemy gives us a wrong thought it immediately gave off a loud warning bell and saying ‘Intruder, lock all doors.’?😊

It sounds funny but in practical terms if we’d learn to recognise an attack of the enemy coming to steal, we’d never let him in, but we don’t always recognise his tactics. We haven’t been guarding our minds and suddenly we’re feeling depressed, defeated, discouraged or fearful. We let the robber in with his wrong thinking and he stole our peace! Anyone identify?

The enemy comes with a thought ‘You’ll never be able to do that, you’re not good enough, it won’t work, you’ll never get well, you’re too old, wrong colour, wrong background’ or some other negative thing! As soon as we have that sort of thought we need to slam the door shut on him and counter him with the word of God. “I’m fearfully and wonderfully made, I can do all things through Christ, God has accepted me and He is restoring my health.’  

So this is just a thought provoker today to set some alarms in place in our minds and over our emotions, to protect them and stop the enemy dead in his tracks; to stop and ask ourselves ’Does this thought agree with scripture and Phil 4:8 or not?’ and if not then slam the door on it and remember Isaiah 26:3 You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, whose minds are fixed on you.😊

CARRIED IN HIS ARMS

Psalm 68:19-20 Praise the Lord; praise God our savior! For each day he carries us in his arms. Our God is a God who saves! The Sovereign Lord rescues us from death.

It seems God is always giving us new reasons to praise Him. Today He’s reminding us that every single day He is the one who is carrying us in His arms. What a reassuring thought, especially when we’re being pulled in all directions, or we’re upset for whatever reason.

When we think it’s all up to us and our efforts, and we’re feeling overwhelmed by circumstances or the amount we have to do, He’s whispering in our ear all the time and saying we’re going to be all right because He’s got us. We’re not just being held in the palm of His hand but His loving arms are round us holding us up through it all as well, no matter what we’re dealing with.😊 We have such a loving, caring Father God.

So whether our day is smooth and calm, or whether it’s feels like a storm is brewing in the wings, or we’re in the thick of it, just rest in the truth that we have a Saviour, the Sovereign Lord Himself, and He’s carrying us through whatever our day may bring and making sure we’re being rescued from whatever plans the enemy may have had.

His arms bring total security, total confidence, total rest and peace for every single day. God doesn’t have a day off and leave us to fend for ourselves. No, He’s there 24/7, through thick and thin and the whole time He’s drawing us to Himself to tell us He loves us and is taking care of us.

I hope that helps someone today because it’s true.😊 Wherever you are, keep remembering you are not dealing with life alone, you are being carried by God Himself. Praise the Lord.

Deuteronomy 33:27 The eternal God is your refuge and his everlasting arms are under you…..

IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF JESUS

Psalm 37:23-24 The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand.

If ever you’ve walked through a field where cows have been you’ll know you have to watch where you’re stepping very carefully, if you know what I mean! In life we also need to look where we’re going and whose footsteps we’re following.😊

The thought suddenly occurred to me that if we’re following Jesus you and I must be actually walking in footsteps of victory, peace and joy, steps that lead us out of any darkness, sickness, disease, or distress and into His victory because He is the ultimate Victor.

Psalm 23:3 …He leads me along right paths, bringing honour to His name. In effect He’s saying if we’ll follow Him, He’ll lead us along the right paths to enable us to overcome our problems in order to take us into His victory and success and bring God glory.

Jesus can’t lead us in paths of defeat or disease because He overcame them at the Cross.  He only knows victory and following His footsteps leads us into resurrection life as well, because He is the Resurrection and the Life. So whatever is struggling to survive or has already died in our lives, whether it’s our health, finances, our hopes and dreams or anything else, we can look up to Him knowing He is leading us up and out into a place of resurrection in all those things if we’ll follow His leading. 

Maybe, like me, when things have been very difficult, there have been some days when we’ve followed the wrong voice and felt defeated and been so discouraged. It’s on those days we need to allow Jesus to lovingly pull us back up and start seeing ourselves walking in His footsteps again because the good news is it’s Jesus we’re following and He will only lead us in paths of victory and resurrection life and never into defeat. Hallelujah!😊

Thank You Lord.

LET THEM BE FILLED WITH JOY

Psalm 68:3-4 But let the godly rejoice. Let them be glad in God’s presence. Let them be filled with joy. Sing praises to God and to his name! Sing loud praises to him who rides the clouds. His name is the Lord - rejoice in his presence!

These verses repeatedly say “let…” which implies something is trying to stop God’s people from doing something. “Let them rejoice, let them be glad, …” There will always be reasons for us to grumble and those things don’t ‘let’ us rejoice when we give them more thought than the good things. The more we grumble the more our joy seeps away.

It’s OK to give yourself permission to rejoice, to be glad, to be filled with joy. Even if things are going pear shaped in our lives scripture tells us to rejoice anyway! Why is that? It’s because we’re proving to the enemy that we believe God is a good God, that He will bring us up and out of everything the enemy tries to bring against us. It’s because praise and joy actually defeat the enemy so he doesn’t want us to do it!

God wants his people to be filled with His joy, notice it’s not a little bit - but filled! He wants us to sing praises because we’re trusting Him to supply all we need in every area of life. If we didn’t have God in our lives then we’d have every reason to be miserable, but we do have God in our lives! He’s for us and not against us. He loves us and goes ahead of us and makes our crooked paths straight. He puts His hand of blessing on our heads so we’re blessed going out and blessed coming in. He has given us so much to be joyful about.😊

So let’s get our week off to a good start with joy! Let’s be glad in the fact that God is going with us all the time which is a wonderful thought. We’re surrounded by angels, upheld by the Almighty Himself. If we keep thinking like that we’ll have a big smile on our faces and even if things are tough, down inside we’ll find His joy bubbling up anyway - if we’ll let it. I hope your face is smiling already.😊

Philippians 4:4 Always be full of joy in the Lord.  I say it again - rejoice!

Have a joyful, rejoicing week.x

MADE FOR HIS GLORY

Isaiah 43: 7 

Bring all who claim me as their God, 

for I have made them for my glory.

 It was I who created them.

V.13 From eternity to eternity I am God. 

No one can snatch anyone out of my hand. 

No one can undo what I have done.

God has made you and me for His glory! What an amazing thought! If you’ve ever asked yourself why you’re here on planet earth, what your purpose is in life, then here is the answer! God tells us Himself, He made us for His glory. What a privilege and honour, and the lovely thing about our God is His heart to bless us in the process of doing it. We have His favour surrounding us like a shield because of it.

Our culture will tell us we’re here to make our own way, to please ourselves, to ‘do it my way’. But God tells us He’s given us the huge honour of making us for Himself, to serve and honour Him in all areas of our lives. In the old days if you were given a job in the king’s palace you’d arrived! You were being allowed to serve the King Himself! Similarly God has chosen us, called us, anointed us to be part of all His plans and His amazing Kingdom, to remind others that He is the One who brings all the goodness into our lives, who has forgiven us, and we want to give Him glory for it.

John the Baptist, who Jesus said was the greatest prophet who ever lived, thought just to be allowed the privilege of doing Jesus’ laces up would be something beyond his standing in life!

And yet here we are, we’ve been honoured and called to serve the King of Kings, the actual One who created us, the unchanging One who holds us safely in His hand from eternity to eternity which is a long time! To serve the One who bled and died for us, who rescued us from an eternity in Hell, who knows the worst about us and yet still loves us so very deeply. Amazing that we have been chosen to be the ones who He wants to bring Him glory. It just seems such a privilege.

Let’s do it today and bring Him all the honour and glory by the way we live, the way we love and serve Him, and others, as we remember it’s all because of Jesus. Praise His glorious name. Amen.

MOVE RIGHT ON!

James 1:2 My brothers and sisters, think of the various tests you encounter as occasions for joy.

There I was merrily ironing one of my lovely pale blue pillowcases, but as I turned it over I discovered I’d ironed two tiny red spider mites into the fabric which were on the other side! I know it’s the season for them at the minute, but I never even thought to check the washing when I brought it in from hanging outside! 

In the big scheme of things, those sort of things don’t really matter at all, but at the time, it’s like “Really?!” Life is a bit like that and we can feel annoyed with ourselves, annoyed with circumstances, just irritated. So what do we do about it?

It always seems to be a case of standing back for a minute and getting things into perspective, to ask if it was of any consequence to anyone other than myself? It hadn’t harmed anyone, hadn’t affected my daily life in any great way, it’s just another of those things to see if I’m going to lose my joy over it and allow it to bother me. I just needed to move right on as though it never happened and keep smiling.😊 It’s like when we’re stuck in a traffic jam but maybe it’s God holding us up to protect us so we avoid something nasty up in front.

We all have things that go wrong from time to time, and I know some are much more serious than my story but be encouraged, because a lot of the time we can learn to just let them go and see them for what they are - little tests or opportunities to allow the fruit of patience to work! I have a spoilt pillowcase, never mind! It’s not worth losing my joy over!

So this is a gentle nudge today to continue keeping things in perspective and not make a mountain out of a molehill. As for me - I’ll just sleep on the unspoilt side and try to forget the red spots!

Have a blessed weekend and remember to check your ironing basket before you iron!😊x

OVERCOMING SELF DOUBT

Proverbs 3:5-6 (The Message) Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don’ try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he’s the one who will keep you on track.

Do you ever find it’s easy to be misunderstood, quite innocently, by the things we say? I’d just commented to Chris that it was raining quite heavily and was due to rain all morning. He immediately thought I meant I didn’t want to go out as planned, but that thought hadn’t even crossed my mind. It was just an observation I was making that it was raining!😊

So often we read into what people are saying and they’re not meaning what we think at all! There is no deep hidden agenda behind it, just a face value comment. Sometimes it comes out of our own insecurities caused by past negative experiences with people, and the enemy can cause us a lot of trouble with it, to make us doubt or second guess ourselves. We really need the wisdom of God, don’t we, not to read into comments things that weren’t intended, to not overthink things!

I was listening to a lady who had battled with self doubt for a long time and it nearly made her give up on her dreams. She learned to turn down the negative voice of self doubt which was loud in her ear, and instead she turned up the volume of the inner small voice which told her she was doing well and to keep going.

She turned down the voice that said you’ll never make it, you can’t do it, you’ve not got what it takes, etc.

She turned up the inner voice in her spirit that told her she was fearfully and wonderfully made, that she was a child of the Most High God, that He loved her unconditionally, that she could do all God was calling her to do, that He was going ahead of her to give her success.  I thought what good advice that was so I pass it on.

God is saying the same encouraging things to each one of us, so don’t let any voice of self doubt or misunderstanding what someone has said deceive you. Whatever desire God has given you, keep listening for His voice in everything you do, and go for it with all you’ve got.😊

GOD KNOWS US, HE SEES US

Genesis 16:13 Thereafter, Hagar used another name to refer to the Lord, who had spoken to her. She said, “You are the God who sees me.” She also said, “Have I truly seen the One who sees me?”

I think we all may have experienced times when we’ve felt like no one sees us. Oh, they see us on the outside, they recognise who we are, as so and so’s mother, father, wife or husband, daughter, son, friend etc., but they don’t really see the real us. And as long as we perform in the way they expect us to, they’re  happy not knowing any more than that, because they may only just be holding it together themselves.

But the good news is, we belong to our Father God, who not only knows us by name, not only knows how many hairs we have on our heads, but He ‘sees’ us. He sees when we struggle, He sees when we’re lonely and afraid. He sees when we’re weak and don’t know what to do. He sees when we’re on cloud nine, when something wonderful has happened and we’re bursting at the seams to share it with someone; when we make a right choice and sometimes a wrong one, but He still loves us.😊

He is the God who sees us, who knows us and He holds us close to His heart. He’s the One who does something about it all, who doesn’t abandon us to just get on with life even if we’ve messed up. He’s the God who cares about every sigh, about every tear we’ve ever shed, or will shed. He’s the One who gives us the breath we breathe, who lifts us up when we’re down, who helps us when we’ve reached the end of our tether, who strengthens us from the inside with His strength and courage, who gives us His very own joy and peace so we can go out with a smile.

So don’t ever feel like no-one ‘sees’ you or that you’re not important. Just take a minute, go and look in a mirror and know God sees you, that it’s you He loves, you He cares about and you He’s going to bring to a flourishing completion, to give you a future and a hope that will bless your socks off.  You’re always seen, every minute of the day and night, because you matter to Him and He’s watching over you with love. Isn’t that wonderful!

We praise You and thank You Lord. 

Psalm 121:8 The Lord keeps watch over you as you come and go, both now and forever.

WHAT A WONDERFUL NAME IT IS

Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a Child is born, unto us a son is given. And the government will be upon his shoulder, And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Thank God there is a name which is so powerful that every demon has to flee before it, every knee bow to it. It’s the name above every other name in heaven, on earth and under the earth. It’s the name of Jesus. (Philippians. 2:10)

Today you may be on top of the world and you want to shout the name of Jesus from the rooftops with high praises. Or you may be in such a difficult, even frightening place right now that you can only whisper His name. But can I tell you He hears our every cry, our every whisper, whether it’s the dead of night, or throughout our longest day. 

God has given us His own dear Son, to rescue and deliver us from anything and everything that would threaten us. When we call on His name His angels are sent out to minister to us. When we call on His name, or we praise His name, Heaven stops and listens. They join with us, because they know one of God’s children is calling on The Name  - the wonderful name of Jesus, the Commander of Heaven’s Armies. But He is also the One who whispers our name, to draw us to Himself. Isn’t that lovely?😊

So be encouraged today wherever you are, remember you have a name you can call on, it’s a wonderful name, the name of Jesus. It reminds us nothing can separate us from God’s love, that He wanted us to be with Him in heaven so much that He went to the Cross to buy us back from the devil. He’s our Redeemer, the One we shall be grateful to for all eternity, the One who has gone ahead of us to prepare a place especially for us. 

All through the day, remember you can whisper the name of Jesus or you can shout it out in praise but He’s given you His name to run into like a strong tower, to call on, so you can know He’s delivering you even when you can’t see it. It’s the name of the King of Kings, it’s the wonderful name of Jesus.

Psalm 91:15 When they call on me, I will answer, I will be with them in trouble. I will rescue and honor them.

Praise His Wonderful Name. Thank You Lord Jesus. 

IN RETURNING AND RESTING IN HIM

Isaiah 30:15….In returning and rest you shall be saved. In quietness and confidence shall be your strength…

My sister asked me to make an Elsa necklet for her nearly 3 year old granddaughter but I haven’t made anything since before Co-Vid as my little business closed when it hit. I used to sell teddy bears with funny poems and all sorts of crafts. Anyway I rummaged in all my jewellery making boxes to find the right colours and was amazed at how I just slipped back into it all, a bit like riding a bike!

You might be at a stage in life where all your busyness and routines have come in the way of your relationship with God, without you even realising. Perhaps your daily bible reading has slipped out of importance or you just squeeze it in for 5 minutes as a duty, not really giving God or it much attention.

If so, can I encourage you to come back to Him, to pick up your bible reading again, like I did with the jewellery making, and allow God to draw you to Him so you can enjoy His joy and peace again?   Isaiah 30:18 So the Lord must wait for you to come to him, so he can show his love and compassion…

Life can be very unsettling and we need an anchor when it starts to blow us about. The night before last we had a fierce thunder storm and next morning my flower boxes looked a bit battered about. We’re like that too! 

Life’s storms can bash us about and if that’s you, or you’ve lost your sparkle, then let your loving Heavenly Father wrap His arms round you again and let Him help and strengthen you as you come back to Him. There is life and health in His words and we all need them, no matter whether we’re close or far from God, and we need them every day. 

Why not find one of your favourite verses, or something you know has spoken to you in the past and let the Holy Spirit enthuse you again? It’s a bit like riding a bike.😊

Isaiah 30: 19…He will be gracious if you ask for help. He will surely respond to the sound of your cries.

LIFE GIVING WORDS

Isaiah 25:7-8 But for those who are righteous, the way is not steep and rough. You are a God who does what is right, and you smooth out the path ahead of them….

Isn’t it wonderful to know Jesus has not only given us His righteousness but He gives us rewards as well. Two of those rewards are mentioned in our verse so what do they mean in our everyday lives? 

They don’t mean we’ll never have any troubles in life, but when we’re walking close to the Lord  and obeying Him, He’s promised that what would be steep and rough paths to others, will be easier for us, because He’s removing the obstacles and providing for us before we even get there. He is there with us, supporting and helping us. You can probably remember times when that has happened.😊

All God’s promises are for our benefit but we know we have to believe they’re for us personally and take them by faith or nothing happens. We may not realise it but we can cancel out a promise when we speak negative words like “Oh life is so tough. I can’t cope. Life is such a struggle!” 

Instead we can turn it around and agree with God’s words and say “I’m trusting His word that it wont be too hard or too tough for me to deal with because His grace is enough for each day. He’s promised to hold me up and help me and smooth things out.”

God says Death and life are in the power of the tongue (Proverbs 18:21). In other words what we speak over our own lives and the lives of others, will help shape what follows, which means we really need to be speaking life giving words!

So I thought it would be good to begin our new week with some of those life giving words, to join our shields of faith together and declare:

“Our path this week will be easier than we think. We know God is going ahead of us, smoothing things out for us before we even get there. Whatever comes we wont just survive but we will thrive and flourish in Jesus’ Name because He has made us Overcomers. It’s going to be a good week because God is for us, He loves us and He will make a way even when it looks like there isn’t one. Thank You Lord. Amen.

Have a greatly blessed week.😊

WHERE TO FIND STRENGTH AND JOY

1 Chronicles 16:23-27 

Let the whole earth sing to the Lord! Each day proclaim the good news that he saves….

Tell everyone about the amazing things he does. 

Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise!…

Honour and majesty surround him, 

strength and joy fill his dwelling.

These verses form part of a Song of Praise David wrote after he had brought the Ark of God back into Jerusalem but it was the last part that struck a chord with me today - strength and joy fill his dwelling. When we enter into God’s presence, when we come to His throne of grace to talk to the Lord that’s what we’ll find - Strength and Joy, which I thought was wonderful. 

Have we ever thought all doom and gloom when we’ve come to God? Filled with woes and cares not realising we don’t need to feel like that because He’s got all the strength and joy we’re going to need to deal with it all. JOY! Somehow we don’t always think of that do we!?

So this is to remind us today where to go if we want some JOY! Where to go if we want some STRENGTH, put them together and we’ll be happy bunnies, don’t you think? I feel happy already just thinking about it!😊

God reminds us in Nehemiah 8:10 Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.

It’s lovely to remember as well, that God is singing over us with Joy and Gladness.(Zephaniah 3:17) We’re not coming to a God who wants to punish us but who wants to bless us. He’s pleased with us because He sees us in Jesus. He loves us like He loves Jesus.  Doesn’t that fill you with JOY? 

Lord help us to learn to live in Your Presence all the time, to remember we can come to Your filling station to fill up on Your wonderful provision of JOY and STRENGTH every day. Thank You Lord. Amen.

Psalm 16:11 You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

KEEP RESISTING!

James 4:7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

Yesterday the Lord reminded us that we have to resist the enemy in order to see him flee from us but if anyone is new to that thought and wondering how we do that I thought it might help to give an example.

Out of the blue the other day, I suddenly had such a sore foot with absolutely no reason for it. I wondered what it was all about and the enemy whispered arthritis. My immediate thought was I don’t want that so I spoke to the pain and told it to go in the name of Jesus! I told the enemy I wasn’t receiving any disease or pain in my foot, and told him to take it away. All through the day, I was aware of it still hurting and bothering me and every time I’d take a stand and resist it and command it to leave.

Although I had quite a battle on my hands, the next day the pain had all gone and it’s not returned praise God. The enemy wanted to see if I’d give up resisting him and just give in to the pain as inevitable. The New Covenant doesn’t say to accept pain or sickness at any age. It’s something our culture tries to tell us is normal, but God tell us Moses eyes were clear and he was as strong as ever at 120 years old, and I like to think of him when I need encouraging.😊 (Deuteronomy 34:7)

We all want to learn to use the weapons of our warfare in a more practical way, and especially with bigger health issues too, so I hope this helps someone else to start standing against everything the enemy tries to harm us with. It’s much easier to nip it in the bud before it gets a hold, but the same principle applies to long standing troubles, and it helps to keep remembering we are Victors because of Jesus, not victims. He is the God who restores health to us.

I’m sure we all have days when it feels like the enemy has gained ground, but we know it’s only temporary and the battle is the Lord’s and He’s never lost a battle yet. So let me encourage us all to keep standing, keep resisting, victory is ours, breakthrough is coming and whatever is bothering you, keep telling it to GO because you’re NOT receiving it in Jesus’ Name. Amen.😊

Have a blessed weekend.x

THE MASTER OF BREAKTHROUGHS

1 Chronicles 14:11 (NKJV) So they went up to Baal Perazim, and David defeated them there. Then David said, “God has broken through my enemies by my hand like a breakthrough of water.” Therefore they called the name of that place Baal Perazim.

Baal Perazim means ‘Master of Breakthroughs’. And I believe God is reminding us all today He is the same yesterday, today and forever, so He is still the Master of Breakthroughs. Hallelujah!

Whatever situation we are dealing with, and you may have been battling the same enemy for what seems like forever, God wants us to believe He is giving us the breakthrough we’re waiting for. But notice David said God gave him the breakthrough by his hand. In other words, David had to obey God’s instructions to the letter and when he did, then God gave him the victory which so overwhelmed the enemy he describes it like a flood of water, How encouraging that is.

God has given us all various instructions throughout the New Covenant. He tells us to walk daily by faith not by what we feel or just when we feel like it. He tells us to resist the enemy in order to see him flee from us, not sit there passively letting the enemy put whatever he likes on us. NO! God tells us to put our armour on (Ephesians 6:10-18), believe Jesus took our sins, sicknesses and diseases on Himself at the Cross (Isaiah 53:4-5), believe and declare His promises, and stand firm. 

He keeps reminding us to use the Name of Jesus and the blood of Jesus against the enemy. He says to keep the word of God in our hearts and coming out our mouths and we will have success. The good news is we don’t have to struggle to do it in our own strength but we do it with the help and power of the Holy Spirit as we lean on Him.

So David didn’t just sit around. He went to fight with his armour on, pulled his sword out and when God said ‘move forward’ he did, and God gave him a mighty breakthrough.

Do you need a breakthrough today in your circumstances or your thinking? Then let’s do our part and obey God’s instructions, remembering we’re coming from a place of victory not trying to get one. Jesus has given us the victory already and He is still the Master of Breakthroughs! 

Let’s believe for our breakthrough and receive it by faith today in the name of Jesus. Amen.

WE CAN LEARN FROM A SUNBATHING TORTOISE

Ecclesiastes 3: For everything there is a season,…a time to heal,…a time to build up,… a time to laugh,…a time to dance…

King Solomon in his wisdom talks about a ‘time’ for all kinds of things and I like to think there is also a ‘time to enjoy’. Let me explain. 

I have a friend whose husband keeps tortoises and this week she sent me a photo of one of them ‘enjoying the moment’! He was actually sunbathing with all his little legs out, drawing in the heat as tortoises absolutely love the sun.

It did make me chuckle but I thought what a wise little animal. He knew how to make the most of the moment as our weather can change at the drop of a hat, although we have had a run of sunny weather lately.

Proverbs 6:6 tells us to learn from the ants because they are so industrious, but I think we can learn from a tortoise too, don’t you? They know how to relax!

God gives us lots of moments to enjoy and the secret is to recognise them and just stop what we’re doing for a minute to appreciate them because they probably wont happen just that way again. James 1:17 Whatever is good and perfect comes down to us from our Father,….and that includes ‘enjoy the moment’ moments!

I just happened to look out my bedroom window the other night before shutting the curtains and the sky was a beautiful red. It was one of those ‘stop and enjoy it’ moments, so I did.😊  

Stop and think for a minute about the past few days and see if you had any moments where you stopped to appreciate something that made you smile, or lifted your spirits. If you did then praise God but if you didn’t then how about asking the Lord for one today and for the wisdom to recognise it when it comes. Then maybe you can share it with someone else and help them learn to look for an ‘enjoy it moment’, and brighten their day too, just like the little tortoise.😊

WHAT OTHERS MIGHT THINK

John 12:43 For they loved human praise more than the praise of God.

The other day I had climbed the step ladders and as I was balancing on top of the washing machine, multiple thoughts were going through my head at the same time. I was trying to reach the electrical fuse box, wondering why the builders put it at ceiling height! I was asking the Lord to hold me steady, mainly because I obviously didn’t want to fall off, but also I didn’t want anyone to say I shouldn’t have been up there in the first place, if I did!😊

Have you ever thought like that? You don’t want to lose face! Actually, the bottom line of that is pride and we don’t always want to admit it. We don’t like to look silly, or have people think less of us do we? Sometimes shyness is based in pride too for the same reasons. We don’t want to put ourselves forward in case we do something wrong and have everyone looking at us! We worry about what others might think of us because we’re focused on ourselves! 

The Jewish leaders in our verse were like that too. They didn’t want to confess they believed in Jesus in case they were put out of their synagogue, their circle, if they did. They were more worried about what others thought of them than what God thought of them.

Jesus was so beyond that kind of thinking though. Philippians 2:7 (Nkjv & Nlt) He gave up His divine privileges, gave up His reputation, He took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. Jesus was way beyond caring what people thought about Him, all He cared about was doing His Father’s will, no matter what He looked like, how low a position He had to take, or what He had to do. In other words He wasn’t focused on Himself but only on His God and what He wanted. I felt very challenged by that! 

Lord help us not to be so focused on ourselves, but to go beyond worrying what people think about us. Help us to want to please You more than anything else and do what You want us to do, regardless of what others might think. Amen.

FOLLOWING THE NUDGE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

Philippians 2:3-4 (Nlt) Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.

Some people might think taking an interest in others is a good excuse to gossip, but it can’t be that, can it, because scripture says very strongly not to gossip! When we look out for our own interests we’re finding ways to progress or improve our own lives, so taking an interest in others must mean doing the same for them as we would do for ourselves.

Jesus said a similar thing, Matthew 7:12 Do to others what you would like them to do for you. He wants us to be helping others get ahead, helping them to rise above their circumstances if we can help in some way. We can lift them up to our loving Heavenly Father and pray for them to be helped by Him most of all, but at the same time we have to remember we are His hands and feet wherever we are.

A man was standing in a shop queue and everyone was irritated at how long the till operator was taking. When he reached her, he told her she was coping well, started chatting and she burst into tears. It transpired her baby was in the hospital and she was worried sick, so he offered to pray for her and the baby there and then. The next lady behind in the queue happened to know a nurse at the hospital and offered to find out how baby was doing. That till operator was comforted and helped because someone cared enough to ask. 😊

God is reminding us to look beyond our own immediate world and what’s happening to us, beyond our busyness, and to be sensitive to what’s going on around us with other people, to see their distress or discomfort and try to help in some way. Sometimes all they need is a hug and a prayer to know you care about them and for others it will mean more support. Some people I know are naturally gifted that way, but for others of us we may need a bit more practice!😊

Lord help us to be sensitive to the nudge of Your Holy Spirit wherever we happen to be, and humble enough to look out for other people no matter where they’re at in life. Help us to see them through Your kind, compassionate eyes and to help them as and when we can. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

PLUGGED IN AND CHARGING UP

Psalm 68:35 God is awesome in his sanctuary. The God of Israel gives power and strength to his people. Praise be to God!

I was holding the plug in my hand for charging my phone and thinking it’s not much use unless I actually plug it in to the socket! Nothing is going to happen until I do, in fact the phone will just drain away. No doubt we’ve all grabbed our phone only to find it’s got no power because we forgot to charge it up!

We’re a bit like the mobile phones, not much use unless we’ve been connected to the power source by being plugged into the Word of God, plugged into God’s love and wisdom, plugged into His Holy Spirt and power. Our verse reminds us God gives us His power and strength but we have to plug into it! He is the source of our power. 😊

Jesus put it this way in John 15:5 I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit, for without Me you can do nothing. - a bit like an uncharged phone!

He goes on and tells us one of the benefits of being plugged in to Him John 15:7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. God knows if we’re staying closely connected to Him we’ll be asking for the right things and able to receive them. Asking for a million pounds to drop through our letterbox by tomorrow morning wont even cross our minds unless He’s told us to ask for it.😊

So this is an encouragement today for us all to perhaps ‘unplug’ from some things for a while, that may not be bad in themselves, but which maybe stop us from having enough time to plug into God’s word to charge up our spirits. Every time we read and believe a promise of God for ourselves we’re charging up.

As we begin our new week let’s not forget to stay ‘plugged in’ to our power source throughout our day and let God help us bear much fruit for Him. 

Have a blessed, charged up week.😊

THE NAME ABOVE ALL OTHER NAMES

Philippians 2:9-11 

Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honour 

and gave him the name above all other names, 

that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, 

in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 

and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, 

to the glory of God the Father.

I love these verses because they remind us the devil has been totally defeated and he has to bow to the mighty name of Jesus, along with everyone else. Jesus won such an overwhelming victory over him, the devil knows he’s got no power over us any more. 

It’s good to keep reading these verses just in case we forget how powerful Jesus now is and how He is for us, and not against us, so we can have the victory over the enemy as well. Jesus passed His victory over to us. He said He has made us more than conquerors through Him and He gave us His name to use in our fight of faith against the principalities and powers that come against us. Whatever is trying to harm us, we can tell it to bow down to the name of Jesus, resist it and tell it to flee.

Lord Jesus we praise you today, because You hold the place of highest honour and we bow at Your wonderful name and give our Father God all the glory for His wonderful plan of salvation and for including us in it.  We praise Your mighty name Lord Jesus. Amen. 

INTO INFINITY AND BEYOND!

Ephesians 1:13-14 … And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own, by giving you the Holy Spirit whom he promised long ago. The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him.

It’s easy to trundle through life sometimes and forget who we are and what God has done. We have our breakfast, go busily through our day then fall into bed at night and if we’re not careful we can take it all for granted.

When God delivered the Israelites from the Egyptians, defeated all their enemies, and brought them into the promised land you would have thought they would have been overwhelmingly grateful. Instead they made two golden calves and said they did it all and worshipped them, instead of the God who saved them! What an insult and offence to God!

In a similar way God has delivered us from an eternity in Hell and taken us out of the devil’s kingdom and control, defeated all our enemies at the cross, forgiven us, made us righteous, made provision for our here and now, and has told us our inheritance is waiting for us beyond this life, all because of Jesus. His provision and blessings are too many to count aren’t they?😊

Our verses remind us God has provided for us not just for this life, but into eternity, into infinity and beyond!

He has made us His very own people, wrapped us in His love, and even identified us as His own by giving us His Holy Spirit. God is overwhelmingly good to us, isn’t He?

I don’t know about you but I don’t want to be like the ungrateful Israelites! I want to acknowledge it’s all from God, to praise and glorify Him for His amazing grace and goodness, for giving us a hope and a future even though we never deserved any of it. Our God is worthy of all our praise!

Have a blessed weekend.x

THE DIMENSIONS OF GOD’S LOVE

Ephesians 3:18-19 (Nlt) And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high and how deep his love is.

Yesterday I believe God was encouraging us to keep praying this prayer (from verses 14-21) until we have a revelation of how much He does love us. So as I was thinking about it, I realised I needed to look at the dimensions of God’s love at bit more closely to help my understanding. I expect you’ve had lots of thoughts already but I hope it helps.😊

Apostle Paul starts with how wide God’s love is, how all encompassing it is. No matter what colour skin we have, what culture, class or country we come from, rich or poor, clever or not, male or female, young or old, God’s love is so wide it embraces us all. No matter how wide our interests, how wide our influence they can never go beyond the love God has for us.

God’s love is long. Whether we have one day to live or we reach 120 years, God’s love has stretched out in front to be there waiting for us every day, to strengthen and uphold us. His love goes ahead and keeps no record of our wrongs, and is also long-suffering. How thankful I am for that!

God’s love is high. God lives in the heavens but He also lives in our hearts by faith. We can fly at 33,000 feet or beyond into space and still never go beyond the love of God! He encourages us to let Him take us as high in Him as we can go, and His love will still be there enfolding and protecting us.

God’s love is deep. I love the thought of that. However low we have fallen, whether we feel like the bottom has fallen out of our world, or we’ve made a mess of things or we’re so sick or we’re at rock bottom, God’s love is there already waiting to lift us up. Isn’t that encouraging and wonderful?

So next time you read through these verses, take a minute and meditate on the dimensions of God’s love and remember they are for you personally. They’re not hypothetical, or only for the select few. They are there for you and me to get a handle on, and believe, how much God loves us. Praise His wonderful name. Thank You Lord for loving us the way You do. Amen.

BELIEVE GOD’S LOVE FOR US

Ephesians 3:17-18 Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.

These verses are part of Paul’s prayer which is a prayer we could pray over ourselves and our families every day, interspersing their names or our own to make it personal. So when we have the opportunity, as we read from verses 14-21, I believe the Lord will reveal to each one of us how real His love is for us.

He tells us that what keeps us strong is when we’re rooted and grounded in the sure knowledge that God loves us personally. So if we need more strength anytime, we can search out the verses on how much God loves us, or listen to a message on the love of God - not His judgement, or His requirements, they were all part of the Old Covenant. But His New Covenant is all about God’s supreme, sacrificial love for us and all He has done for us through the Lord Jesus.

1 John 4:10 This is real love - not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.

If we take nothing else away from today’s Blog, remember that God loves you with an everlasting love, that knows no boundaries, that is vaster than the oceans and yet it reaches down to each and every one of us. All He asks of us is to believe His love and receive it, receive His forgiveness, His grace to transform us, all by the power of His love. 

1 John 4:;16 And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.

And we can  be totally reassured by this too…‘God’s love never fails.’😊

MESSY THREADS TO CROWN OF GLORY

Philippians 1:6 (Nlt) And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.

I’ve just finished a lovely 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle which has kept me quiet for a couple of days! It’s not till the last piece goes in that we have a sense of satisfaction and see the full picture and think it’s a job well done.😊

Life is a bit like that too. We go through each experience, some so lovely, and some so hard, but they are all like pieces in the jigsaw of our lives and each piece is important or the rest won’t make any sense or come together. And it’s no good trying to fit a piece where it’s not intended to be, it just doesn’t work does it? Similarly God has a place for each one of us where we will fit in too.

It’s only God who has the whole picture and it’s as we trust Him to fit each piece in to our lives that we can know He’s going to stand back and see that it was a job well done then too. Our verse reminds us that what God has started He will complete. It won’t be left half finished with any bits missing!

Corrie Ten Boom said ‘Although the threads of my life have often seemed knotted, I know, by faith, that on the other side of the embroidery…there is a Crown.’ As she turned her embroidery of tangled threads over she would show the beautiful finished picture of a golden crown.

She was saying that life is like an embroidered quilt and while God is working on it, all we can see are the messy, tangled strands of cotton on the back which we may find hard to make any sense out of at the time. It’s not till He turns it over that we’ll see the beautiful picture that He’s been forming. We are the quilt that God is working on, and the finished picture is our crown of glory.

So be encouraged today, if anyone feels like all you can see is the tangled strands of threads, remember God has the whole picture and He’s not finished with us yet. We are all still a work in progress and we can relax knowing whenever He makes something, it’s always good. It will be a crown of glory.😊 Praise God and thank You Lord Jesus.

1 Peter 5:4 (Nlt) And when the Great Shepherd appears, you will receive a crown of never-ending glory and honour.

THE SECRET IS TO LOOK UP

Hebrews 12:2 We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith….

Do you ever second guess yourself and think you should be more like so and so? Or think people might think you’re weird because you like something and others don’t? It’s so easy to compare ourselves to others and think we should all behave in the same way and yet God made us all individuals, with very individual tastes in all areas. In other words He made us unique for a reason. He gave us different talents and preferences, so why should we ever think we’re in the wrong if we like cheese and marmalade sandwiches when everyone else likes cheese and pickle!😊

God made us the way we are for a reason and even if we’ve had difficult circumstances to go through He can use those too, for His service and glory. Very often we can identify with someone who has had a similar experience to us, that other people just can’t come to grips with, and so they may sit in judgement on them because they’re not like them.

Matthew 7:1-2 Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged.

Jesus tells us not to judge our brothers and sisters because they belong to Him and they are accountable to Him and Him alone. We all make mistakes but God is bigger than our mistakes and the grace of Jesus is far more powerful to take away our sin however big it was or is. His blood cleanses us of all unrighteousness.

The secret seems to be in not looking inward at ourselves, not outward at other people, but upward to Jesus Himself. Scripture tells us to be imitators of God, and if we’ll do that all will be well and He’ll give us His peace of mind and allow us to be who He made us to be, however odd that may be!😊

Ephesians 5:1-2 Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. Live a life filled with love following the example of Christ…..

THOSE THINGS SENT TO SABOTAGE US!

Galations 5:22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. There is no law against these things.

I was in the middle of making scones and my hands were covered in the sticky mix when my mobile rang and trying to answer it without getting it covered in gooey mess would have been hilarious to watch! It was someone needing information and I had to go searching, running up and down stairs, still with my hands a mess. Eventually, after spreading sticky mix everywhere, I found what they were needing. Then after all that, when I was heating the oven up, suddenly there was a bang and the cooker cut out! Talk about scone sabotage! The little lamp inside had blown, so I reset the trip and the scones were eventually cooked.😊

Do you ever have days when things seem to conspire against you too? Those small things that try to throw us off kilter which are just sent to annoy us. We have a choice, do we allow them to ruffle us up, or do we carry on and not let them bother us? If we’re wise we recognise them for what they are and let the Lord lift us up above them. It’s part of the Holy Spirit’s ministry to us, to help us deal with the irritations of each day and stay sweet, to show His patience, joy and self control! I’m still a work in progress!😊

As we begin a new week let’s draw on the Holy Spirit inside us to allow the fruit of His Spirit to flow so the enemy doesn’t gain any ground or spoil our day. God tells us His grace is sufficient, it’s more than enough to help us deal with whatever comes, whether it’s small or major.

Lord we give You this week, with all its happenings which You know about already, and we thank You for being in it all with us, producing Your fruit in us and turning things round for our good. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

GOD IS ALWAYS READY TO HELP

 Psalm 46:1 

God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble.

I think we probably all know this verse really well but it will help us if we keep reminding ourselves of it when our backs are up against the wall and trouble is looking us in the face. God knew we would all have troubles from time to time, some more serious than others but He made provision for every one of them by telling us we’re not alone in them.

When we feel at our most vulnerable, or our strength is at a low ebb for whatever reason, we can turn our eyes on Jesus and remember He is our Redeemer, He is our Deliverer, He is the One who saves us not just at conversion but moment by moment for our entire lives. 

God has provided us not with ‘something’ but with Himself so He can be our refuge and give us His very own strength. So if we need any help today or in the coming days, let’s remember to look to Jesus because all God’s promises that we need so much, are Yes and Amen in Him. 

2 Peter 1:4 And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires. In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises…. 

If life has dealt you some tough blows remember God is in it all with you and He’s promised to turn it all around for your good because you love Him. (Romans 8:28) And if you’ve wandered away from Him then simply call on His name and let Him restore you to Himself.

So let’s praise Him today with grateful hearts that we’re never alone, we have the Lord of the Hosts of Heaven’s Armies as our Helper and whatever He needs to do to get us back up and running, He will do by the power of His Holy Spirit strengthening us from within. Amen.😊

OUR RIGHT TIME AND RIGHT PLACE

2 Kings 8:5 And Gehazi was telling the king about the time Elisha had brought a boy back to life. At that very moment, the mother of the boy walked in to make her appeal to the king about her house and land. “Look my lord the king!” Gehazi exclaimed. “Here is the woman now, and this is her son - the very one Elisha brought back to life!”

Talk about right time and right place, this lady was the perfect example of it! Elisha had told her to go and live somewhere else for seven years while there was famine in Israel, and she did exactly as he said because she knew what he said, would happen. Then after seven years, on the day she came back to ask for her house and land to be given back to her, she arrived at exactly the right time and all was restored to her! How brilliant was that!

It encourages me so much to know that if we’ll listen to what God is saying, and if we’ll do exactly as He says, when He says to do it, He’ll make sure we’re at the right place at the right time too. We don’t need to fret and worry about whether everything will work out all right. God will make sure it does if we follow His instructions. 

This lady had to leave her home for seven years which must have been quite a step of faith at the time, but everything was restored to her. She didn’t lose out at all and even had the profits from her harvests given to her as well. Plus she spent seven years eating plenty in the Philistines’ land instead of starving at home!

She could have disobeyed God and thought she knew better because it made no sense in the natural. She could have worried about losing her home and everything familiar to her, worried about going somewhere new with no friends and just stayed where she was, but she proved obeying God is always best!😊

So we too can be encouraged to know God always knows best because He can see the end from the beginning. Even if it doesn’t make sense to us, if we’ll trust His leading, do as He says and go where He says go, He will make sure all will be well for us too.😊

Have a blessed weekend.x

GOD CAN TURN THINGS ROUND OVERNIGHT!

2 Kings 7:17…So everything happened exactly as the man of God had predicted when the king came to his house.

Samaria was under siege and the whole city was literally starving to death because the Aramean army was deliberately starving them out. Four lepers sat at the city gate chatting about the dire situation they were in and decided to think outside their box. They were social outcasts because of their leprosy, and were people who others discounted, as of no importance, yet God used them.

Have you ever felt discounted sometimes, that you didn’t fit in to the social order of things, or your face didn’t fit because of your Christian beliefs? The one who others maybe overlook because you don’t behave the way they do? If so, be encouraged because God shows us how He turns things round in our favour.

Elisha had told the King everything would change by morning, that there would be plenty for everybody, but the king’s officer scoffed at the prophet and said that would never happen! Elisha told him he’d see it happen but wouldn’t be able to eat any of it!

Sometimes we hear or read things in scripture which we find hard to believe and our unbelief kicks in instead of our faith! Listen, absolutely nothing is impossible with God! If He tells us something, we can believe it! See what happens…

The four lepers went to the Aramean camp thinking they would die whether they stayed or whether they went. They discovered God had gone ahead of them and frightened the enemy so much they’d fled for their lives and left everything behind, food included. The lepers ate their fill, took silver, gold and clothing, then went back to their city to share their good news. The king’s officer who had scoffed God’s word the day before was trampled to death at the gate with the rush of people running to get food! 

God can literally turn things around overnight! If He has said something let’s agree with Him, regardless of how impossible it may seem. Remember, it’s a simple thing for God! Let Him help us to think beyond our own limitations, what we think could be, and take us into His realm of ‘all things are possible with Him’.

He wants to bless us, heal us, prosper us and turn things around for us. Let’s believe it! Will you join me and say in faith today “I believe it! I receive it! Thank You for it Lord!”😊

GOD FILLS TO THE BRIM

2 Kings 4:5-6 So she did as she was told. Her sons kept bringing jars to her, and she filled one after another. Soon every container was full to the brim!

This widow was in a distraught state as she owed so much money they were threatening to take her sons as slaves in payment. So she asked the prophet of God what to do, which was the only way she had in those days, of finding out.

He asked her a simple question. ‘What do you have in the house?’ At first she says ‘Nothing!’ then realises she does have some olive oil but obviously couldn’t see what difference that would make anyway! I wonder if we can be like that? All we can see is the problem and we think we can do nothing about it, when God always has an answer if we’ll ask Him. He sees the potential in what we do have!

Are you challenged in some area of your life at the minute? Then God says ‘What do you have in your house?’ Ask Him to show you what you have that He can use and multiply. God wants us to think outside of the box sometimes and not be tied to thinking there’s only one way to do a thing or make a living.

We have to remember GOD is our source of supply for everything - not our training, our job, the government, etc. He can use something entirely different if we’ll humble ourselves and ask Him what He wants us to do. This lady though, was told to ask for other peoples’ rejects, the empty jars they didn’t want, even the kids were involved! But God used those and the little oil she had and filled them to the top! 

Our God is a ‘full to the brim’ Person. She had so much in the end she was able to, not only pay off all her debts, but she had more than enough to live well on afterwards. The key was, she was willing to do what she was told! Are we?

If we have a need in some area at the minute, let’s first of all ask God what to do and if necessary let Him help us think outside our box, then do what He tells us. It might be a nudge in a certain direction, it may be an idea that keeps coming up in our minds. Let’s listen for the still small voice to find out what God is instructing us to do, because He wants us to be filled to the brim and have more than enough in our lives too.😊