ENJOYING IT, NOT JUST ENDURING IT

Ecclesiastes 3:1(Nkjv) To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven:…

I like cute drawings and have this old picture of two little rabbits with snow falling outside. It looks so cosy with them tucked up safe and warm inside even though it’s a season of cold snow outside which made me think of our winter to come. 

Here in the UK East Midlands, last winter seemed to go on forever, cold and wet, so I wasn’t looking forward physically to this coming season of winter one bit. But as I looked at my picture, I felt the Lord say every season has its own beauty and He wants us to not just endure it but enjoy it and allow Him to bring out the good in it, both physically and spiritually because it has a purpose.

It’s all a question of attitude and He wants me to adjust mine! How about you?

We’re also all in different seasons of life and some are more challenging than others, where it may seem to go on forever and maybe you’ve struggled to keep going sometimes. I believe the Lord is reminding us to not focus on what’s wrong, on what’s bringing us down, on what might go wrong, but to focus on what’s right, focus on Him keeping us safe and secure, to provide what we need, to remember every season has a good purpose and it will come to an end in it’s time. Maybe He wants you to have an attitude adjustment, to ask Him for a different perspective on what’s troubling you or what’s happening.😊 

He wants us all to ask Him to help us to rise above the situation and see it with His eyes and trust Him to not just ‘get us through it’ but find His peace and joy in it. We know He is in it with us so let’s be content to rest in Him, and allow Him to be to us all we need, knowing He is the Lifter of our heads, our Provider, our Healer, our Joy giver and Peace provider, regardless of what’s happening outside us!

So this is just a little reminder to allow the Lord to help us to not just endure, but enjoy, whatever season we are in, both physically and spiritually and to see the good in it.😊Amen.

WARNING SIGNS!

John 16:13 (Nlt) When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future.

We put a little duck at our front door yesterday holding a warning sign so everyone who came to the front door would know we had wet paint. The postman paid attention to the warning and left our letters to the side of the door because he knew he didn’t want to get paint on him! 

In the same way, the Holy Spirit gives us warnings, a nudge in our spirit to keep quiet, to not go a certain way, to stop watching a certain programme, or to not work such long hours, to not see so much of someone, or to not have yet another chocolate today!😊 If we’re wise we’ll heed the warnings, the nudges, the feeling of not having any peace about something, and we’ll not do whatever we had planned.

God gives us warnings through scriptures, through other people, even in our sleep, our dreams. When I used to keep the books for our small business the Lord would wake me right up in the middle of the night and I’d know I’d forgotten to do something important!

Is there anything you can think of where you’ve lost your peace about it? If so, heed the warning sign and don’t pursue it because God is trying to protect you from harm, not trying to spoil your fun. So often we try to justify why we want to do or say something, when we know it would be wiser to keep quiet, or not do it! 

The Holy Spirit is talking to us all the time but if we’re too busy to listen we might miss the still small voice giving us the warning, showing us the sign that would protect us from danger or heartbreak. God wants us to give Him time so we can be prepared for whatever is coming our way. 

It can work for our family members too. I know of one lady who asked the Holy Spirit to warn her of anything coming the way of her children which would harm them, so she could pray for them in advance to be protected or helped to avoid what the enemy had planned against them. 

So this is just an encouragement to be listening for the still small voice and give God the time to let you know if there’s something you need to know!😊

FOLLOWING JESUS’ INSTRUCTIONS

Matthew 5:44 (Nkjv) But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.

Jesus said if we’d do what He told us to do, our house would stand rock solid in the storms of life, that it wouldn’t collapse like the house built on sand. 

Some of those commands He gave us are not always easy are they? Our flesh wants to rise up and retaliate when someone is bad mouthing us or doing us wrong. It may be a neighbour, a family member, or work colleague! Proverbs 25:21-22 If your enemies are hungry, give them food to eat, If they are thirsty, give them water to drink. You will heap burning coals of shame on their heads, and the Lord will reward you. There is a reward for obeying Jesus!🙂

Jesus gives us four specific instructions He wants us to obey -

1. Love your enemies. 2. Bless those who curse you. 3. Do good to those that hate you. 4. Pray for those who spitefully use you. That requires a love beyond our own doesn’t it? It requires the love of God Himself which He has put in our hearts by the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5), and His great grace. 

He has equipped us with His own Holy Spirit to enable us to do it, but it does mean surrendering to Him especially when everything in us may want to do the opposite! It’s not done by will power but it’s a decision we make to obey, because we love the Lord.🙂

I heard of a persecuted Christian family whose dad was a pastor. He was shot and killed just recently for his faith, but his children who witnessed it, turned to the men who did it, and said they forgave them and would pray for them. Only God’s love and grace in their hearts could enable them to do that.

Philippians 2:13 For God is at work within you, helping you want to obey him, and then helping you do what he wants.

Father thank You that when any of us finds ourselves in a position that needs us to forgive someone and do all Jesus told us, that You will fill our hearts with Your love, and the power of the Holy Spirit to help us do it, and also help us to be willing to do it. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

BLESSING, GOODNESS, CONFIDENCE AND JOY

Psalm 23: 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

I have Good News today because today is another gift from God, another day when we can know we have a Heavenly Father to care for us because we belong to Him, and He is for us and not against us. As long as we’re breathing we’ve got a reason to praise the Lord. Isn’t that a great way to start the week?😊

It’s a day where His goodness and mercy are not just following us, but the original says they’re chasing us down and overtaking us. That has to be good! It means whatever the enemy had planned, God’s goodness and mercy will overwhelm it and turn it round for our good as we take His words by faith.

Psalm 139:5-6 You go before me and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand. Can you just imagine standing in front of God for a minute and see Him reaching His hand out, putting it on your head and blessing you, because that’s what He is doing.

God has gone ahead of us into our day, our week, and blessed us. Part of ‘Blessing’ means to speak well of somebody and how encouraging to know that our God is speaking well of us. We can go out with Godly confidence to face the world knowing their opinion of us doesn’t need to affect us because we already know God speaks well of us.😊

So even if we have some challenges to work through this week, remember we have God’s favour surrounding us like a shield (Psalm 5:12), and that His truth is our shield and buckler encircling and protecting us,(Psalm 91:4) and we can lay hold of those truths and promises before we begin each day.

We can go out knowing we are children of the Most High God, and our name is not only written on the palm of His hand, but also written in the Lamb’s Book of Life because of Jesus, and He loves us beyond measure so we can trust Him. 

On the strength of all that I pray you go out with joy and have a truly blessed week. In Jesus Name Amen.😊

GOD IS FAITHFUL TO US

 Psalm 89

V. 1 I will sing of the Lord’s unfailing love forever! 

Young and old will hear of your faithfulness. 

V.2 Your unfailing love will last forever. 

Your faithfulness is as enduring as the heavens.

V.5 All heaven will praise your great wonders, Lord; 

myriads of angels will praise you for your faithfulness.

V.6. For who in all of heaven can compare with the Lord? 

What mightiest angel is anything like the Lord?

V.7 The highest angelic powers stand in awe of God. 

He is far more awesome than all who surround his throne.

V.8 O Lord of Heaven’s Armies! 

Where is there anyone as mighty as you, O Lord? 

You are entirely faithful.

God is Faithful! The Psalmist can’t seem to say it enough and it’s wonderful to be reminded that our God is faithful to each one of us, and His faithfulness is for how long? Till we blow it, or wander off, or disobey? No His faithfulness is forever!  Glory to God!

Lamentations 3:22-23 The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. 

He is steadfast and loyal. He will always stand by us and won’t abandon us when things get messy. He is faithful to His promises. What He has said, He will do, and He will never go back on His Word. He is faithful! I find that so reassuring, don’t you?

Then I love the way the Psalmist lets us know how awesome God is in Heaven, how absolutely no one, no mighty angel, nothing can compare with our Lord. 

Jesus is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies but He is also our Saviour, we can look to Him and know there’s no one like Him, He is so wonderful but also wonderful to us personally. 

Psalm 92:1-3 It is good to give thanks to the Lord, And to sing praises to Your name O Most high. To declare Your loving kindness in the morning and Your faithfulness every night.

Let’s praise His glorious majesty, His faithfulness, His unfailing love towards us today. Amen.😊

Praise, my soul, the King of heaven;

to his feet your tribute bring.

Ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven,

evermore his praises sing.

Alleluia, alleluia!

Praise the everlasting King!

LOVING NOT JUDGING

Matthew 7:1 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. 

It’s so easy to judge isn’t it, and I suspect we all do it sometimes! If we’ve been raised in a judgemental home then it’s hard to shake that attitude off and we hear people all the time judging others, for what they are doing, or not doing. Maybe it’s the government, or a family member, or in church, or someone in the news and we’re tempted to judge them, often without even knowing them! But Jesus said “Don’t judge others.”

The thing is we don’t know what peoples’ lives have gone through and maybe we’d be the same if we’d been through what they have, or be even worse! God is still working His grace into their lives and ours.Their story and ours isn’t finished yet.🙂

But Jesus warned us that if we are judgemental then we’ll receive the same ourselves! If we treat other people like that then they in turn will treat us like it! Ouch! None of us want that. Jesus went on to say in Matthew 7:12 Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. We forget it sometimes when the words pop out our mouths and whenever we judge someone, we need to remember it will boomerang back at us!

We’ve all met people who speak kindly all the time, and wish we were the same, but depending on our nature some of us can struggle with it more than others! So I think it’s one of those many things where we have to go to the Lord and ask for help to get rid of the judgemental spirit, and ask for the Holy Spirit to take over that area of our lives more and more; to see others through the eyes of love and let go of any pointing fingers and to ask the Lord to forgive us when we do.

We none of us have got it right all the time, and as we’ve received God’s mercy, let’s show some mercy and love to others too. I know I need help to pause before I say something and think how I can love them instead. How about you?😊

Have a blessed weekend.x

OUR BONES ARE LISTENING!

We’re probably all familiar with the song “Them bones, them bones, them dry bones…”🎶 so if you’ve ever been concerned about your bones we’re going to have a look at what Scripture says about them today.

Psalm 34:20 For the Lord protects the bones of the righteous; not one of them is broken. I started claiming this promise a long time ago and I looked up ‘broken’. It means, crushed, destroyed, hurt, broken down or broken off. Scripture tells us we are the righteous, so this promise applies to all of us who belong to Jesus but as with all the promises we have to take it by faith.  Not one of our bones will be broken down, destroyed, crushed or hurt. I believe the Lord wants us to speak to our bones and tell them so and if they are already damaged to speak His healing Words to them.

Proverbs 4:20-22  … My words bring life to all who find them and healing and health to their whole body which of course includes our bones. As we read, hear and speak God’s Words to our bones they are bringing life and healing.

Proverbs 16:24 Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones. Again, it’s about the words we hear, which it says can actually bring healing to our bones. We can speak grace filled, life giving words and our bones are listening to us! Healing words - “Bones - by Jesus’ wounds, you were and are healed. Bones you are strong and healthy and functioning normally, filled with God’s life giving marrow. You will not be crushed , broken or destroyed, in Jesus’ name.”

Ezekiel 37:1-11 (especially) 4-5 … Then He said to me, “Speak a prophetic message to these bones and say…”. Please look these verses up and you’ll find God told Ezekiel to prophetically speak life to the dry, dead bones which seemed impossible! I believe that is an example to us, we too can speak God’s words of life prophetically to our own bones whatever condition they are in right now.

Proverbs 14:30 A peaceful heart leads to a healthy body; jealousy is like cancer in the bones. But the good news is, now Jesus, by His shed blood, by the stripes on His back, has healed our bones of every disease, including all cancers wherever they may be. (Isaiah 53:5) Praise God.

God has made it clear He wants our bones well, strong and whole or He wouldn’t have written about them specifically and I believe He wants us to speak life and healing to our bones if they’re giving us trouble.

There are other ‘bones’ scriptures for us to search out, but do trust these are a help to get us started to keep our bones strong and healthy (whatever age we are), or speak healing to them in the name of Jesus. Amen.🙂

OUR FUTURE IS GLORY TO GLORY

2 Corinthians 3:18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

Can I ask what your future is looking like? If we go by what the media tells us, or what the bank balance says, or the doctor’s report you might tell me your future according to those, and it could be a bit uncertain. If that is the case then I have some really good news today.

If Jesus is our Saviour and we are a child of the Most High God then our future is the Holy Spirit transforming us from glory to glory to be like Jesus! It’s certainly not doom and gloom. You see we are not even citizens of this world. 

Philippians 3:20 But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior.

We might think we are citizens of the country we were born into, but that was the old us, we are now a new creation in Jesus and we were translated into His Kingdom of light, our citizenship is now in heaven. Ephesians 2:19…you are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family.

1 Peter 2:9-10 …for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. …Once you had no identity as a people; now you are God’s people….

We have already experienced some of the glory, we are chosen, we now have a new identity as one of God’s people and we’re eagerly waiting for our Saviour to come for us because we’re members of God’s family. How glorious is that!🙂 

Psalm 84:11 …No good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly. Our God is for us and we can walk daily into the good things He has for us. Our future is goodness to goodness, glory to glory.

Now if anyone asks, we can say our future is looking great thanks very much. Jesus has gone ahead and is preparing us a dwelling (John 14:2), we have an inheritance stored up for us (1 Peter 1:4) and we have all the privileges of being a citizen of heaven, both in heaven and now and the more we look at Jesus the more we’re being transformed to be like Him, glory to glory. It doesn’t really get any better than that!😊 Thank You Lord.

DON’T TALK YOURSELF OUT OF IT!

Isaiah 55:8-9 “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.

When God calls us healed and prosperous we may look at our present circumstances and say well I’m not healed, I’m not prosperous, because we can’t see the healing. In fact we may feel really poorly so we talk ourselves out of it and contradict God with our words.

God said He had made Abraham a Father of many nations (past tense) when he had no children! (Romans 4:17) Abraham could have said but that’s a lie, I don’t even have one child, how can I say I’m a father of many nations? But v.20-22 says Abraham was fully convinced and believed God.

We’re told God cannot lie so whatever He says about us must be the real truth, not what we can see and feel, because God sees in the Spirit realm. God calls things that are not yet manifest in this physical realm, as though they were, because He knows they are that way in the Spirit realm. We can pray for the release into the physical what’s already present in our spiritual being. That’s huge!

Ephesians 5:1 Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. So when He says by Jesus wounds we are healed, (1 Peter 2:24) then we are to say the same, because as far as God is concerned, we are. We don’t deny the facts we see, but we call it like God sees it. He doesn’t want us to talk ourselves out of our healing, our prosperity, but into it. 

God sees us healed, He sees us prosperous  now our job is to agree with Him and make what we say line up with what He says, even if we can’t see it yet. He calls it walking by faith and faith is the evidence of things not seen, and faith pleases God. God does it differently!!🙂

God’s thoughts and ways may not make any sense to our minds but we have to forsake our thoughts and ways and come up higher to imitate Him and walk in the faith He’s given us, but it’s our choice. Are we willing to surrender our thoughts, what we can see and feel, and instead talk it and walk it like God does, by faith? 

Abraham did indeed become the father of many nations because He believed and said what God said. I want to learn to do the same. How about you?🙂 Lord open the eyes of our understanding. Amen.

WE ALREADY HAVE IT!

Luke 15:23-24 ‘…And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast, for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now is found.’ So the party began…v.28 The older brother was angry and wouldn’t go in….

When I read this story I must admit I’ve sometimes sympathised with the older brother because on the surface it seemed so unfair. He’d slogged away for years and yet the brother who goes off with all his money and lives in sin gets the reward of a party! It’s not till we examine the father’s reply that the truth of the situation is unfolded.

His dad explains that absolutely everything he has, now belongs to the older brother already, and had done since his other brother left! He only had to ask to have a party with his friends and he could have had it straight away, and more besides. It was already his to have, but the older brother was so caught up in his ‘works’, in his self righteous attitude, he’d never asked for anything, so he never received anything. 

It was a ‘What about me, and what I’ve done!’ attitude. He just didn’t realise what he already had, and that it wasn’t because of what he did, but because of his father’s goodness, he was already blessed beyond measure!

The younger brother knew he was in a mess and didn’t deserve a thing, but he also knew his dad and his loving heart so he went home, repented and asked for help. He only asked to be taken on as a servant but his dad wanted to immediately welcome him back as his lost son, to bless him.

I wonder which son are we identifying with? It’s possible to forget that God our Father gave us not only His own Son, but He’s given us everything else as well. He will give us our heart’s desire if we ask. Like we found on Sunday, the table is spread for a feast but do we come to the table and receive what is already ours because of Jesus?

Jesus said to ask, seek and knock. Are we tempted to think others are better off in some way than us, when all we have to do is ask? Jesus told us to simply ask, not because we’ve earned it or deserve it but because of His grace! 

Let’s spend some time with the Lord and ask Him to show us what to ask for, and not be afraid to ask big! 😊

Romans 8:32 Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else?

GOD’S TOTAL REASSURANCE

Psalms 89:2 Your unfailing love will last forever. Your faithfulness is as enduring as the heavens.

I think we all have a basic need to know that God still loves us and that He is not ticked off with us, because He isn’t. We need  to know He won’t stop loving us, no matter what, or give up on us when our performance is not how we think it should be, because He wont. As long as we remember it doesn’t depend on what we do but on what Jesus has done for us, we’ll be more than OK.🙂

God’s love is unfailing which means it will be rock solid underneath us and wrapped around us for as long as we live. God is not going anywhere because He has promised to never leave us or abandon us, regardless of what happens.

We all need to know that security, and it’s one of the things I love about God that He knows us through and through and how we need to know He has our back. He really went the extra mile when He gave us His Holy Spirit so we would never be in any doubt. The life that we now live we live in Christ Jesus. We are not alone.😊

So whatever you have to do this coming week, or whoever you have to deal with, remember He has given you wisdom to deal with it, courage to face it, strength to overcome it and you’re going to do just fine. He says all will be well for the godly because He’ll turn it round for our good in the end, whatever it looks like.

God is so much in the business of reassuring and building us up isn’t He? He wants His sons and daughters strong in the Lord and in the power of His might, to remember we belong to Him and He has given us His delegated authority over all the works of the devil so that nothing shall by any means harm us and His love never fails. Glory be to God! 😊

So if you feel a bit wobbly at any point this week just remind yourself of all those things, smile and be reassured because they’re all from scripture and they are all backed by the blood of Jesus. We have so much going for us don’t we?!

Have a truly blessed week with Him and in Him.x

Psalm 36:7 How precious is your unfailing love, O God!

COME TO THE TABLE

Psalm 23:5 

You prepare a feast or me in the presence of my enemies. 

You honor me by anointing my head with oil. 

My cup overflows with blessings.

When we’re invited for a meal, at some point we’re asked to come to the table because the meal is ready to be eaten. Now, to not sit down and enjoy what has been prepared would be so rude and ungrateful wouldn’t it?

Well God has invited us to His table and He has prepared a feast for us - but I don’t think we always realise that. 

The Lord Jesus invites us to His table to fellowship with Him over the bread and the wine, to remember and declare His death when He defeated all our foes, where He bought and paid for our salvation with His own blood. Included in that salvation He bought and paid for our healing, our prosperity, our protection and every single thing we shall ever need throughout our entire lives.

When we remember His death the bread is speaking of the stripes on His back which gave us His healing, when we drink the wine we are remembering His shed blood for our redemption. When He says to discern the Lord’s body, part of it is to discern all He did and has won for us by His death, to realise what He has given and made available to us.

We can come to His table any time and there are all manner of things laid out on it. There is a plate of forgiveness and reconciliation, a dish of peace, a tray of healing, a plate of prosperity, a bowl of joy and fulfilment. You get the picture. Whatever it is we need He’s saying He has already provided it for us to take and enjoy from His table - it is literally a feast! It may be the money to pay our bills, it could be restoration of health and strength and so much more. 

Will you come to the table, will you take and eat and accept all He has provided and laid out for you? The Psalmist says He has a cup of blessings with your name on it which is literally overflowing with blessings. Are you going to drink from it? 

Jesus is speaking to each one of us and says “I have loved you from everlasting to everlasting, now come to the table and take what I’ve prepared for you, enjoy the feast.”😊

YES AND AMEN!

2 Corinthians 1:20 For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God, through us.

The Lord reminded me of this verse yesterday and we all need reminding of things don’t we?😊 Well praise God the Holy Spirit is here to remind us today of all that God has given to us in the Lord Jesus because it is all good!😊

When we asked Jesus to come into our hearts and made Him the Lord of our lives, God then placed us in Him, in Christ.(1 Corinthians 1:30) We are now hidden in Christ,(Colossians 3:1-3) we are infused into Him as He is infused into us. Take a teabag, pour boiling water over it and the water becomes infused with the tea, you can’t separate them out anymore. We are like that ‘in Christ’. 

Now, because we are ‘in Christ’, then ALL the promises of God are YES and AMEN (So be it), in Him. When you find the promise covering whatever your situation is, before you even ask, God says YES! - because we are in Christ. Hallelujah! Think about it - ALL the promises. 

We don’t have to twist God’s arm, tell Him why it’s a good idea, try to be good enough, or grovel in the dirt to get the answer. We just have to know we are ‘in Christ’ and He has qualified us to always receive a YES from God when we bring His promises to Him and stand on them by faith. 

His promises are His will for us, He wants us to have them, so when we pray the promises we know it’s God’s will for us to receive them. 

1 John 5:14-15 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.

I hope that reminder has put a smile on our faces and a hallelujah in our mouths because it’s all absolutely true to the glory of God. Now, what promise are you claiming today, because the answer is YES!😊

Have a wonderful IN CHRIST weekend.x

DEPENDING ON GOD

Psalm 62:5 (GNT) I depend on God alone I put my hope in him.

My dad used to breed dogs and when puppies are first born they’re utterly dependent on their mother for everything, and they show us what total dependence looks like. Now when we read ‘I depend on God alone’ we have a picture of what total dependence on God is meant to be like. 

We’re depending or relying on Him to wake us up in the morning and give us breath, and keep us alive! We depend on Him for our health and strength to go through the day, for food on the table.

Everything we have comes from Him, but sometimes we can slip into self reliance mode and think we’ve done something by our own skill, or when we have trouble we find ourselves saying “what am I going to do?”, instead of saying “God I need Your help.” 

It’s good to remember every ability we have to do anything was given to us by God in the first place and that every good gift has come down from God, including careers and jobs.  God wants us to be aware He is our source for everything, including our money, our wages or pensions, not the company or government. They are only channels of His goodness and when we’re depending on Him, when one channel closes down, He will open another one to us.

The more we stop and think about our lives the more we realise how totally dependent on God we really are and if we forget then we’re not giving God the glory and honour for it.

You’ve probably heard the saying ‘Well God helps those who help themselves!’, but we won’t find it in the Bible because God never said it!😊 What He did say was that He would help those who need help. Isaiah 41:10 …. I will strengthen you and help you, … Psalm 54:4 But God is my helper. The Lord keeps me alive! Psalm 46:1 God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.

I think the Lord just wants to remind us we need Him every moment and He loves us very much. So let’s praise God and tell Him our eyes are on Him, that we’re depending totally on Him for everything and give Him all the glory He’s due. Amen.😊

FAITH THAT GROWS

Matt 17:;20 (The Message) “Because you’re not yet taking God seriously,” said Jesus. “The simple truth is that if you had a mere kernel of faith, a poppy seed, say, you would tell this mountain, ‘Move!’ And it would move. There is nothing you wouldn’t be able to tackle.”

Romans 12:3 says we’ve all been given a measure of faith and I know we all want it to grow so I pray this helps us today.

At some time we’ve probably all prayed for instant healings which are wonderful, but some healings come in stages as our faith grows and any progress is good.

John1:16 says we’ve all received grace upon grace, so we also receive healing upon healing which is part of the grace of God. When we receive even a small improvement in any area let’s also praise and thank God for it as it comes. Then we can move on in faith, encouraged by what we have received, hang on to it, and believe for the next stage. It’s one way our faith grows.

When the disciples asked Jesus to make their faith grow He told them to use the seed of faith that they had, that it would move mountains! A seed is a living thing but it’s Who our faith is in that’s important. He says just use the little bit of living faith in God that you have got and the rest will follow, believe and it will work! That’s good news.😊

Jesus taught us faith is voice activated. He told us to speak to our mountains, not talk about them. (Mark 11:23) He told us to tell them to be removed. Speak to the pain, to the disease and tell them to go, to be removed. Whenever I have a pain appear somewhere, I’ve learned to pounce on it immediately and tell it to be removed, I’m not having it, not taking it, don’t want it - Go! In the name of Jesus! 

So let’s keep speaking to the mountains, using the authority He’s given us, and do what He’s told us to do, using the living seed of faith that we have been given, however small it might seem.

James 2:26 …Faith without works is dead also. Faith that is spoken out our mouths is living! Faith that acts on what we’re speaking and believing for is living. Dead faith just thinks about it, but living faith speaks and acts on it! The more we act on it the more it grows.🙂

Romans 10:17 …faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Are we feeding our faith on teaching that is faith filled and faith building, filled with the grace of God? It’s our job to feed our faith with the right food. If we come away feeling built up and encouraged, then it’s good food. 

I pray we can encourage each other in our most holy faith as we grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus and what He taught us to do, giving Him all the glory. Amen.

GOD’S FRESH WORD FOR US

Jeremiah 1:12 (Amp Classic) Then said the Lord to me, You have seen well, for I am alert and active, watching over My word to perform it. 

Chris has been out blackberry picking and our freezer is filling up fast. They’re particularly big and sweet and I’ve even made some blackberry jam so bring on the scones and cream!😊

The thing about blackberries is you have to pick them while they’re fresh. If you leave them on the bush too long they go mushy and the bugs get them. It was the same with the Israelites who had to pick up the manna each day, they had to get it while it was fresh. It’s like that with the Word of God.

Jesus said we too need to have the Word of God, a fresh word from Him, for each day. If we leave it for a day or two then it will be stale and not appropriate to that day anymore. God wants us to receive the fruit of His Word fresh every day when it’s at its most meaningful for that moment. It might be critical, either for ourselves or for someone else.

Matthew 4:4 But Jesus answered and said, “Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. The word ‘live’ in that verse means revive, keep alive, nourish up, preserve alive, recover, repair, restore to life, be whole. Would you like some of that? I know I would and it all comes through God’s word.😊

We need to realise the Words we receive are not always just for us. There could be big issues hanging in the balance and God is looking for people who will be His channels for that day to bring about His purposes. His word on any given day might be to keep you or someone else alive and nourished up, or to recover you or them, and make you or them whole.  The Word He gives you may encourage and make a world of difference not only to you, but to someone else as well! Or it could also be a word of warning to protect us.

So be encouraged today to pick up His word and receive your fresh fruit for the day and then share it with someone else, encourage them to do the same, and it will have a snowball effect, growing as it goes. I like that idea don’t you? Or feel free to share the Blogs and pass them on, make them into snowballs of God’s Word too!😊 

Be nourished up today as you receive His fresh Word.x

REWARDS OF PAYING ATTENTION

Proverbs 4:20-23 My child, pay attention to what I say. Listen carefully to my words. Don’t lose sight of them. Let them penetrate deep into your heart, for they bring life to those who find them, and healing to their whole body.

Do you ever chat to someone and know they’re not paying any attention? It’s going in one ear and out the other! God knows we can be like that when He says to pay attention to His Word. Can we ask ourselves what gets our attention? Is it how we feel, our circumstances, what others say, our symptoms, or a screen, rather than what God is saying? 

Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world (1 John 4:4). God wants you to know there is more God in you than there is any disease, more God in you than there is fear, or insecurity or lack or pain.  God is greater, more powerful! Are we paying attention?

You may be facing a giant today, but God is greater than whatever it is, and He is in you! We can run to our giant like David did, not from it. He knew his covenant with God and he also knew Goliath was defenceless against him because Goliath had no covenant! That’s how we need to see whatever we’re facing that’s trying to intimidate us. 

God is saying pay attention and know it is defenceless against us and our God because we have a blood bought covenant with Almighty God through the Lord Jesus. He has already given us the victory now we can enforce it on whatever enemy is coming against us.

When a private nurse is called in to care for a critically ill patient she has to give him her full attention. She constantly watches for his vital signs. She has to pay close attention and that is the kind of attention referred to in these verses! It’s a command not a suggestion.

God even spells it out for us. He says don’t lose sight of My words (keep reading them), listen carefully to it (keep hearing it), allow it to sink down into your hearts and it will bring life and healing to your bodies. He even tells us why - it’s worth it, it brings huge rewards.

So let’s pay close attention to His Word because God has told us to. Amen.😊

WE’RE RUNNING TO WIN!

1 Corinthians 9:24-25 …Run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize.

When I was a kid I used to hate having to run in the flat race because I knew I’d be nearly last. I couldn’t run for toffee and I knew it, so I was losing, in my mind, before I began!😊

Apostle Paul reminded us to run our race to win. Our attitude of mind plays a huge part in whether we succeed, whether we win or not. If we believe we can do whatever it is we’re trying to do knowing God wants us to be successful, we shall overcome the obstacles. The Holy Spirit knew that and it’s why He’s constantly telling us we are more than conquerors, over-comers, that we are victors and not victims. 

How do we see ourselves? God wants us to see ourselves as people who are a success going somewhere to succeed. The Holy Spirit tells us God blesses all the work of our hands that whatever we do will succeed when we do it in Him, with His anointing and inspiration. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.(Philippians 4:13)

It’s actually a spiritual, supernatural thing, because we’re not doing it on our own, we’re doing it with the power of the Holy Spirit inside us. The secret is to to know that, and not forget it, otherwise we’ll be trying to do it in our own strength which God never asked us to do.

As we begin this new week remember you have the Holy Spirit inside you, you have been anointed. God sees you as a winner, as an over-comer, as a conqueror. Now just agree with Him and enjoy your week - in His strength and with His help. 

You are a winner, a success going somewhere to succeed. Thank You Lord.😊

Deuteronomy 28:12 (Nkj)The Lord  will open to you His good treasure, the heavens, … and to bless all the work of your hand….

Deuteronomy 28:8 (Nlt)The Lord will guarantee a blessing on everything you do and will fill your storehouses with grain. The Lord your God will bless you in the land he is giving you.

WE HAVE A REDEEMER

Isaiah 63:16 

Surely you are still our Father! 

Even if Abraham and Jacob would disown us, 

Lord, you would still be our Father. 

You are our Redeemer from ages past.

Praise God, we still have our Heavenly Father! No one can snatch us out of His mighty hand and He won’t disown us because we’re trusting in His Son the Lord Jesus. Thank God for Jesus.

Around 2000 years before Jesus was born, Job was going through great suffering, and betrayal by his friends. His health was totally shot, he was a bag of bones covered in boils in great pain, his children had all been killed in a hurricane, not one survived, his livestock was all gone, servants killed, he’d lost the respect of everyone who used to reverence him, all appeared to be lost, he felt broken, and yet he could still say ‘But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and he will stand upon the earth at last.’ (Job 19:25) He was seeing beyond his circumstances, beyond his suffering, to the One who would make it all right, not just for him but for us all. He was seeing into the unseen realm.

We all need a Redeemer and there is none to compare to our Lord Jesus. He is our Redeemer for our now and for all eternity. Without Him there would be no heaven for us, but praise God He came, He stood upon the earth as Job foresaw and He redeemed us to His Father. He made a way where there was no way so we can say today “I am redeemed by the blood of the Lamb.” Hallelujah.

He gave us a glorious future with Him in heaven to look forward to, He gave us hope, He gave us redemption from the devil’s hold on our lives now and set us free from the kingdom of darkness and put us in His kingdom of light. But He also came to give us an abundant life in the here and now, a healed, whole, provided for life all bought and paid for by His precious shed blood.

He has been our Redeemer from ages past, even before the foundation of the world He was, and is our Redeemer. Doesn’t that make you want to shout? All glory to His name today. 😊

Hallelujah! He’s the God who saves us, worthy of all our praises. Thank You Lord Jesus.

THE ANSWER IS ON ITS WAY!

Psalm 65:5 You faithfully answer our prayers with awesome deeds, O God our Savior. You are the hope of everyone on earth, even those who sail on distant seas. 

When we pray in line with God’s word, and the answer looks like it isn’t coming, we’re tempted to think God’s not listening, or that nothing is happening. Actually nothing could be further from the truth because each prayer sets something in motion. 

When we believed we received it, something moved in the Spirit realm. Mark 11:24 Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them. What an encouraging thought!😊 We’re to believe we have them before we see them - that’s faith.

When Daniel prayed it took several weeks before the angel fought his way through to bring God’s answer to him but it says from the moment he prayed the answer was on its way.(Daniel 10:12)

I just want to encourage us all to try to remember that truth. Your answer is on its way but there could be many factors delaying it from appearing. There could be other people involved whose hearts may still be being changed, there could be principalities and powers at work delaying your answer, like Daniel, but God is never too late and He’s promised us His grace to wait.

You see it’s not only faith we need, but faith working through patience.(Hebrews 6:12) Abraham had fully persuaded faith, but he also had to use patience for years before he saw God’s promise of a child, but Isaac did arrive and his name means laughter! God keeps His promises.

So don’t give up believing, or give in to the devil’s lie of feeling hopeless. Our verse reminds us God is the hope of everyone on earth. Be willing to wait for God to answer in His time. 

Patience is as much a fruit of the spirit as love or kindness, so let’s ask the Holy Spirit to help us exercise our patience to wait for our answer, and when it comes, shout for joy and praise His wonderful name. In fact let’s praise Him for the answer before it comes.

In the meantime remember - the answer is on its way.😊 Have a great weekend.x

Isaiah 49:8 “At just the right time I will respond to you…

WHAT WILL GOD DO?

Psalm 91:16-18 The Lord says, “I will rescue those who love me. I will protect those who trust in my name. When they call on me, I will answer; I will be with them in trouble. I will rescue and honor them. I will reward them with a long life and give them my salvation.

1 Corinthians 8:3 (Nlt) But the person who loves God is the one whom God recognises.

Have you ever heard anyone say ‘You never know what God will do!” Well according to our verses today that’s not right because we need never be unsure about what God will do. He’s told us clearly in these verses.😊 

We know God loves us greatly and when we love God it says God knows us and recognises us. Isn’t that a wonderful thought? The Almighty knows us personally, He recognises and acknowledges us.

But He does so much more for us when we love and trust Him. When we read these verses in Psalm 91 we discover the many ‘I wills’  of God and what He says He will do, so we don’t need to have any doubts about it.

“I will rescue, I will protect, I will answer, I will be with them, I will honour, I will rescue, (again), I will reward, I will give.” 

He says twice that He will rescue us.  Nkjv says deliver us. They are two different words in the original. The first deliver is when He causes us to escape something, the second deliver is when He strengthens us and sends in armed forces to bring us out. Hallelujah! God never said we wouldn’t have trouble but He does say He will be with us in it and bring us out, and don’t forget He will reward those who diligently seek Him, with long life and His salvation.😊

If we allow the Holy Spirit to minister each one of God’s ‘I will’s’ to us personally, as we reread these verses, they will bring great peace and assurance for whatever we have to do or deal with in our now and in our futures. I think it will cause us to love Him all the more, He’s so immensely good to us all, don’t you think?😊

Let’s take a minute and receive His love afresh and tell Him how much we love Him today.

WE HAVE A CAUSE

Psalm 35:27 Let him shout for joy and be glad, Who favours my righteous cause; And let them say continuously, “Let the Lord be magnified, Who has pleasure in the prosperity of His servant.

When we’re saying something continuously we’re saying it all the time. We’re reminding the principalities and powers as well as ourselves just how great our God is and that He wants us to prosper. We’re reminding them to take their hands off our prosperity because we belong to God!

The Psalmist also tells us to shout for joy and be glad because we’re favouring God’s righteous cause. What is our cause? It’s God’s cause. It’s salvation by grace, through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. It really is something to shout with joy about! We see lots of people in the media who have a ‘cause’, some good, some bad, but they shout about them anyway, they have a cause and so do we!

The Psalmist is telling us to speak up about ours, to be continually on about how great our God is, to want to be magnifying and making much of Him throughout our day. 

Then he tells us something about how God sees us. It says He takes pleasure in something as well and what is it? It’s our prosperity. 

If you look up prosperity in the original it says ‘Shalom’ which means peace, health, favour and prosperity which includes our physical, spiritual, and our financial prosperity. God takes pleasure in us having all of those. God doesn’t want His children sick and poor. He’s pleased when He sees us prospering, and it’s what He wants for us all, it’s part of His good plan for us.😊 

Lord we’ll keep declaring how Great You are. We shout for joy for Your righteous cause, for Jesus and our salvation. You really are great Lord and we want to make much of You for all Your goodness to us and for helping us to prosper in every way. Thank You Lord. Amen.

Let them say continuously “Let the Lord be magnified, Who has pleasure in the prosperity of His servant.”

A LISTENING EAR

1Thessalonians 5:11 (Nlt) So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.

The other day I was feeling a bit discouraged doing the Blog and was wondering whether the Lord really wanted me to continue with it or not. I’d had the enemy giving me a hundred and one reasons why I should stop doing it!

We’ve probably all been there. The enemy pressuring us to stop doing what God has given us to do; trying to fill us with negative thoughts that pull us down and make us think there’s no point. I should know better, shouldn’t I, but we need to be honest with each other about those times, because they come to us all in different ways about different things.

So what do we do with them? Well I texted a good Christian friend who told me I needed to boot the enemy out the back door! She encouraged me to carry on and to stop listening to all the lies of the enemy. 

You see sometimes we need to share what’s going on with us on the inside, and be honest with someone we trust. We need a listening ear who can give us Christian wisdom and encouragement.

We all need encouragement and the Lord has put us in the body of Christ so we can encourage one another when we need it. So may I be a voice of encouragement to you today, to keep going, to keep serving the Lord, whether it’s in the home or at work, to keep believing the promises and to stop listening to any lies the enemy has been throwing at you and know the Lord is pleased with you.

Be an encouragement to others, just a word here or there, anything that will uplift or let them know you’re praying for them or that you appreciate them. Be the listening ear they need and then lift them up as God shows you. 

The Lord has given us to each other to be there for one another, knit together in one body to build each other up, whether we’re in the UK, Ireland, Sweden, Uganda, USA or wherever we are on earth.😊

Ephesians 4:16 He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.

Be blessed, be an encourager today.x

A BLESSING NOT A BURDEN

Zephaniah 3:17 For the Lord your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.

I always like to be up by 6 a.m. to finish writing the Blog, but was really struggling to wake up the other morning when I felt the Lord say ‘Be Flexible!’ It’s like He was saying it’s not written in stone that you have to rise at 6 a.m. on a Saturday morning!😊

I mulled that over and realised we can make a rod for our own backs if we’re not careful. It’s like the Pharisees who had God’s Law but then added dozens of other little laws that made everybody’s life miserable. Are there any things in your life that you’ve ‘added on’ that God didn’t ask for, and now it feels there’s no joy in it? 

I finished the Blog and sent it out, went back to bed, and did some bible study. When I finished I realised I hadn’t done my actual ‘readings’ for the day. Again I felt the Lord say ‘Be flexible. You’ve already been reading My word this morning, don’t make doing your ‘readings’ into a law!’ So I enjoyed reading them at lunchtime instead which was better.😊

All I’m trying to say is God wants relationship with us, not rules we’ve put on ourselves. Yes it’s important to start each day with Him and read our Bibles daily, but He wants our relationship to be spontaneous and enjoyable not prescriptive. When we’re with our families and friends we’re flexible because there’s an ease in that. My dad was of the generation that always wanted us to visit on the dot and not be late but there was little joy in that, it became a burden. 

Our Heavenly Father doesn’t want our relationship with Him to be a burden but a blessing. He wants us to come to Him because we want to and not because we ought to, to remember He’s singing over us with joy and love, that He delights in us. So enjoy being flexible in your relationship with Him and maybe sometimes do some things at different times and be spontaneous, as we’re led by His Spirit.😊 

For the Lord your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.

LOVED AND LIFTED

Psalm 146:8 The Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are weighed down. The Lord loves the godly.

I read this the other day “In Christianity, God came down to where we were to lift us up to where He is!” What a thought, as we remember He has raised us up along with Christ and seated us in the heavenly realms with Him.(Ephesians 2:6) We may not feel like it sometimes, but God says it is so!😊

He didn’t come and say “Well you’re in too big a mess, not much we can do about it!” No! He came to lift us up out of our sin and anything and everything that has us bound. Hallelujah!

God is Love, so we could say Love came down to our level in order to lift us up to His level. Love lifted us up, Love holds us up, Love forgives us and sees the best in us, and how did that love come? 

It came by grace through faith in Jesus, who is God, who is Love. So God’s grace, His undeserved favour, physically came to us from heaven in the person of the Lord Jesus in order to lift us up, to reconcile us and bring us to Himself. It’s good to be reminded sometimes, isn’t it?😊

Do you need some lifting up today? Then turn to Jesus, He is the lifter of our heads, the restorer of our tired souls, the peace giver. He is El Shaddai, the All Sufficient One, the Almighty who has the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge …(Isaiah 11:2) 

Whatever we can possibly need is to be found in our Lord Jesus so let’s come to Him afresh as we begin a new week and receive His love, His unmerited favour  and let Him do what He came to do - to lift us up to His level. Thank You Lord.

Psalm 3:3 But You, O Lord, are a shield for me, My glory and the One who lifts up my head.

MY REFUGE AND MY FORTRESS

Psalm 91:1-2 (Nkjv) 

He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High 

Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. 

I will say of the of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress; 

My God, in Him I will trust.”

Where would you like to live if you had the choice? Wherever it is physically, I hope you’ve chosen to dwell, or live, in the secret place of the Most High. Sometimes we hear people say they’re living under a cloud, but we’re living under the shadow of the Almighty - that’s the All Mighty. Not just someone with a bit of authority or power but with all power and might.  If you’re in someone’s shadow it means they’re really close. God Himself is overshadowing and watching over us with His power.

If we are living there, then we’ll be saying something, we won’t be silent! The Nlt says it this way “This I declare about the Lord … Are we declaring anything? …He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust Him. How personal that is! We have something to declare and it’s essential that we do! We need to hear it, and so do the principalities and powers. 

Faith is voice activated. In order to be saved we had to confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord, and it’s the same with all the promises we receive from God. We need to say them, speak them.

The wonderful thing is, once we’ve made our declaration of verses1-2, then the rest of Psalm 91 is ours to claim with all it’s promises, but it’s dependent on what we do with the first two verses. So let’s dwell in the secret place of the Most High, in Christ, and say of the Lord He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.” then we can enter in to enjoy the rest of the Psalm knowing it’s for us personally. Thank You Lord.

And if you’re anxious about your safety why not make it personal every day?😊

PRAYING FOR UNSAVED LOVED ONES

1 Corinthians 4:5 So don’t make judgments about anyone ahead of time - before the Lord returns….

If we’ve been praying for someone or a loved one to come to know Jesus for a long time we can become discouraged and tempted to look at where they’re at. We think they’ll never change, their heart is too hard or they’re too far away to even want to know God.

If you’ve ever felt like that then take heart from our verse because it commands us not to make judgments about anyone ahead of time. It’s never too late for someone to come to God. While they’re still breathing, even with their last breaths God can still speak to them. 

2 Corinthians 4:4 Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ,  who is the exact likeness of God.

The Holy Spirit has explained in this verse why some people are not responding to the gospel, but He has given us authority in the name of Jesus to do something about it, to break Satan’s hold over their minds. Instead of just asking God to save someone, let’s do our part.

“In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I break the power and hold of the devil over the mind and life of ..……….. and claim deliverance from the devil, of ..………..,   so they can see and understand the truth of the gospel of Jesus, how greatly God loves them and have full salvation in Jesus’ Name. Amen.”

You can put it how you want to say it, remembering the fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much(James 5:16b) and that God wants all men to be saved.(1 Tim.2:4) Let’s use our authority over the devil, break his power and believe for their minds to be opened so they’re free to choose to receive Jesus as their Saviour. Amen.

Have a blessed weekend.x

WE BELONG TO CHRIST

1 Corinthians 3:23 and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.

We’re so blessed to belong to Christ, to God. What a wonderful thing that is!😊

As we know Christ means Anointed One and His anointing, so we belong to the Anointed One and to His anointing. We read how our life is hidden in Christ, (Colossians 3:3) so we’re hidden in the anointing. In Ephesians 2:13 we’re told we are united with Christ, united with His anointing, that what belongs to Christ, the Anointed One, belongs to us. We’re also told we are anointed because we are united with Christ.(1 John 2:27)

We need never feel as though we’re abandoned or orphaned or all alone. We belong! We are part of God’s family. He is not only our God, He is our Heavenly Father, the One who watches over and protects us because we belong to Him.

In the account of the prodigal son on his return to his father, we read how the father gave him a new robe, a ring of authority on his finger, shoes on his feet to show his position because he was restored as his son. He was somebody, a child of his father, not one of the servants, but a son. He belonged in the family.

I hope we too have a son mentality today, a belonging to God mentality remembering He has gifted us with His robe of righteousness, given us His Holy Spirit as our seal of authority to use the name of Jesus, and put His shoes of peace with Him on our feet, reconciled to Him as sons and daughters of the Most High God.

God wants to remind us of who we are, and whose we are today so we can go out with confidence and a great sense of our identity and security because we belong to Christ, we belong to God. Praise His wonderful name. Amen.

GOD IS SMILING ON US

Numbers 6:24-26 May the Lord bless you and protect you. May the Lord smile on you, and be gracious to you. May the Lord show you his favor and give you his peace.

‘How you make others feel says a lot about who you are. Leave them with a hug, a smile and a kind thought.’ I read that the other day and it made me stop and think about how we can affect other people. We can leave them feeling uplifted or pulled down. 

We know God never pulls us down and when we come to Him I believe He welcomes us with a hug, a smile and a kind thought, a blessing, which is a lovely thought. Have you ever stopped to imagine meeting up with God in a cafe for a tea or coffee, and Him greeting you with one of His wraparound hugs, His smile, and sharing with You His kind thoughts about you?  Actually, we can allow God to do that anywhere, anytime. We don’t have to wait for a special appointment or place.😊

All through scripture God has written to us saying how deep His love is for us, telling us how special we are to Him and how He wants us to be with Him in Heaven one day; how He’s looking forward to welcoming us with one of His all encompassing hugs and His smile. What a day that will be for each one of us who belong to Jesus.

I expect you’ve noticed that when we’ve been with someone who makes us feel better in ourselves, feeling uplifted, it’s easy then to pass it on to others. It has a knock on effect, doesn’t it? 

So as we read God’s word we can go and have one of God’s hugs, feel His smile all over us, hear how He’s blessing us and thinking kindly about us, and as our verse says, showing us His favour and giving us His peace, then we can go and pass His love on to whoever we meet.

Leave them with a hug, a smile and a kind thought, knowing it’s been passed from God to you and on to them.😊 God’s love is for us all.

Romans 12:10 Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another.

EVERYTHING TO ENJOY

1Timothy 6:17 …God richly gives us everything to enjoy.

I just wanted to share this picture of a flower we found hanging low in a hedge down the road. It is so beautiful and I didn’t recognise it but it made me think of bridal bouquets it was so stunning. Have a closer look if you can and tell me what it might be. It looked like hundreds of pearls had been sewn on!

It’s lovely to stop and enjoy the beauty God has provided for us. We can be so busy, or caught up in the media or sad stories we hear from our friends, they can begin to make us feel low. But one way to lift our spirits is to look at the beauty around us.The clouds were amazing to watch here last night.

God gave us everything to enjoy, not to ignore! It’s sad to see people who are so busy looking at their phones they miss out on what is happening around them! A few days ago I came across a tiny baby ladybird which I’ve never seen before and so enjoyed counting its spots! Then my granddaughter found a baby starfish on holiday. What a find!

Even walking by peoples’ gardens it’s lovely to stop and admire their flowers with each changing season and really ‘see’ them. 

So today is just a nudge to take a few minutes in our busy day to enjoy what’s around us and recognise what God has provided, whether it’s lovely clouds, or a bird song, or even a pretty weed - if it’s pretty, then we can enjoy it.😊 Don’t be too busy to stop and smell the roses, as they say!

John 10:10 …My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. God wants us to enjoy being alive with all He’s provided for our enjoyment so let’s enjoy noticing what’s He’s put in our day today and share it in the comments if you like.😊

DOUBT ALERT!

Matthew 21:21 Then Jesus told them, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and don’t doubt, you can do things like this and much more….

Jesus said it - Have faith and don’t doubt! You’ll have heard the illustration - ‘Doubt knocked at the door, faith answered, and doubt left.’  When you think about it, doubt never saved a soul, never healed one person, never turned lives around for good, in fact doubt defeats dreams and stops people in their tracks because they stopped believing when faith wasn’t there to answer the door! Doubt can be dangerous!

When we hear the voice of doubt questioning God’s promises we know it’s not God’s voice. We can’t stop it coming but we need to recognise it’s the voice of the enemy and refuse it entry. We follow the Good Shepherd so we don’t need to give that demon of doubt house room when we don’t even belong to him anymore. Praise God.

Let’s keep believing that all things are possible with God. When doubt comes knocking and says ‘you’ve not received it so far, so give up, don’t think you’ll get it now, it’s too late’ -  we can just turn it round in faith and say ‘I’m not a doubter, I’m a believer in the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ. He’s my hope, my miracle worker, my healer. What He’s promised He will do.”

Listen, it’s never too late with God! If we’ll only believe and tell doubt to shut up we’ll move forward into receiving what God has prepared for us. We have the Word of God Himself and His promises, so we can walk by faith, take a stand and believe Him.😊

Matthew 14:31…Jesus said, “Why did you doubt me?” 

Lord we won’t doubt and do without. We’ll believe and receive, in Jesus mighty name. Amen.