A SENSE OF EXPECTANCY

John 10:10 The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.

It’s the last day of November and tomorrow we’ll start the count down to Christmas and for the children especially there is an air of expectancy that gets stronger as each day goes by and their excitement grows the closer it comes to Christmas morning.😊

In the same way I believe God wants us to have a sense of expectancy, of knowing there are good things in our futures too. Yes, there will be tests and trials along the way but Jesus came to give us a rich and satisfying life, not a life that just gets by. His Word says His heart is to bless us and make His face shine on us, to heal and restore us.

It’s a two way thing though and God also expects things of us. He’s so pleased when we walk by faith and I’ve learned over the years that just because we may have had a bad report, we still have our faith to believe God can turn any report around for good. That’s what having faith is all about - believing and expecting the impossible because we have an ‘all things are possible’ God! No situation is beyond our miracle working God, so don’t let the enemy kill your joy or steal your peace, or expect bad things. Turn his negative thoughts round and expect the good God has promised.

God also expects us to shine, and not be a dull light bulb. Have you noticed how some energy bulbs are so dull to begin with, then they glow brighter as they warm up? I think we’re a bit like that too. When we wake up in the morning or we’ve had a bad day, we’re not always shining are we?😊 But as we draw on God’s power and strength throughout our day so we reflect His light and we start to shine with thankfulness and gratitude when we think of how good He is to us.

So let’s enter into the spirit of Christmas with a child-like faith, with an air of expectancy of all the good God has in store for us because He has said He will bless us going out and bless us coming in. And even better we can expect to be a blessing to others as well. 

I wonder - what good are we expecting and believing God for? Let’s tell Him and please Him with our faith.😊 Amen.

UNBOUND AND SET FREE

Daniel 3:24-25 But suddenly Nebuchadnezzar jumped up in amazement and exclaimed to his advisers. “Didn’t we tie up three men and throw them into the furnace?” …“Look!” Nebuchadnezzar shouted. “I see four men, unbound, walking around in the fire unharmed! And the fourth looks like a god!”

We probably all know the story of Meshach, Shadrach and Abednego who were bound and thrown into a furnace. They’d never experienced anything like it before but they’d decided, whether God rescued them or not, they would not bow to the king’s idols but only worship the one true God Jehovah. They’d been kidnapped as teenagers, trained in all the ways of Babylon, and yet they remembered they belonged to God and their allegiance was to Him only.

When we go through fiery trials ourselves, we need to remember that we belong to the God who loves us, the One who reigns supreme, who says all things are possible to him who believes, that nothing is impossible or too hard for Him.

King Nebuchadnezzar saw four men in the furnace and if we could see into our fiery trial we would see the Fourth Man too because we’d see Jesus in the middle of it with us. I’d love to know what they were all talking about together in the fire but I’m sure He was encouraging them.😊 The Lord had come into their situation, loosed them from what had them bound and they were walking free, even in the fire!

Whatever we’re called to go through we can know that Jesus is in it with us, He has already loosed us from whatever has had us bound, and He has set us free to walk out from it. 

Those three men had made up minds when they went into the trial that they would trust God no matter what, and they walked out, not even smelling of smoke, and were even promoted by the king. 

When we go through fiery trials we can be encouraged to know that when we come out, we wont be the same as when we went in, because we too will be stronger and have a greater testimony to the goodness of God. Glory to the Name of Jesus. Amen.

THEY TOUCHED HIM

1 John 1:1 We proclaim to you the one who existed from the beginning, whom we have heard and seen. We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands. He is the Word of Life.

They touched Jesus. We often think of Jesus touching and healing people when we read about him touching the leper, or the blind man for instance. Jesus was always touching people.😊

Have you ever asked Jesus to touch you? We probably all have, but I want to turn it around for a moment and imagine ourselves being with Jesus and touching Him. I’m sure the disciples didn’t shake Jesus’ hands in a formal handshake every time they met. I expect they had a hug and as He hugged them, they in turn would have hugged Him back. It would have been instinctive. They would have responded to His hug, His touch.

Now bring it into the present moment. We know God is pouring His love out on us but are we responding? Are we returning the hug, so to speak? Are we reaching out and touching Him by faith, as we receive His love by faith. Just as the lady with the issue of blood reached out and touched Jesus by faith, in our spirit we can see ourselves touching Jesus in the same way.

I believe the Lord is actually touching us all the time, bringing His healing and wholeness into our lives, very often through His Word, but we sometimes don’t recognise it so we miss it. We can be so caught up in our trouble or distress that we don’t realise He is with us, bringing His peace, His healing touch, His comforting hug to know all will be well and not to worry or be afraid.

One day we will all stand before our Lord Jesus and He will give us the biggest loving hug, and we will hug Him back before we fall at His feet and worship Him. So this is just a gentle reminder to not only receive His love and His touch, but also to respond with a thankful heart and reach out and touch Him with our love in return, in our now.😊 Amen.

IT’S UNFAILING, IT’S UNCONDITIONAL AND IT’S OURS

Psalm 42:8 But each day the Lord pours his unfailing love upon me,…

Whatever day we’re reading this we can know it’s a day that the Lord is pouring His love out on us, wherever we are in the world, and it doesn’t change with our moods or our behaviour. It doesn’t change whether life has been easy or if it’s really tough right now. His love is unfailing, it’s unconditional and it’s ours. I can’t think of anything else you can say that about!

In fact we can go out into our world with the thought wrapped round us that God is pouring His love out on us all the time and it won’t fail us. As you go out your front door - ‘God’s love won’t fail me.’ As you get in the car - ‘My God loves me.’ As you go to work or school - ‘God is pouring out His love and favour on me.’ As I sit at home - ‘Thank You Lord Your love will never fail me.’🥰

Psalm 59:16 …. Each morning I will sing with joy about your unfailing love. For you have been my refuge, a place of safety when I am in distress.

The Psalmist liked to sing about God’s love and it might help us to do the same. It reminded him how God is the One he could go to any time of day and night especially when he’d been upset, when he was distressed about life. 

We can all identify with his feelings when life is tough, or when we see and hear things that disturb us, but we can know we have a place of refuge too - it’s the Lord Himself. He actively encourages us to come to His throne, even if we’ve been the cause of our own upset, to receive His mercy and forgiveness, to find peace, or the help we need to deal with everything else, to find the way forward.

But most of all let’s remember throughout our coming week, throughout each day, that the Lord is pouring His unfailing love out on us and we can go to Him any time and His arms will be open and His ears will be listening and He has promised to help us. Amen thank You Lord.

HOLDING IT ALL TOGETHER

Colossians 1:17 (Nlt)

for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. 

He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see .…

Everything was created through him and for him. 

He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together. 

Jesus Christ holds all the atoms of the universe together. When you think of the vastness of space and the complexities of our own planet, we’re given a glimpse of how amazing that is! Even when mankind has released atom bombs they have never shaken the earth from its orbit because Jesus is holding it together. 

What I find so wonderful though, and so reassuring, is that He holds us together as well. Whatever tries to shake our personal world, as we turn to Him, He holds us steady.

Some people give you the impression they think they’re the ones having to hold their lives together by their own efforts but God never intended for us to take on that responsibility because we can’t do it. He gave it to Jesus to hold our world, our lives, together.

If we’ve been trying to do it on our own, let’s invite Him afresh today to take control of every area of our lives, to hold us together, so we know we’ll never need to feel like we’re falling apart at the seams or having a nervous breakdown because He is the One holding us steady.🙂 

God intends for us to be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might so we can overcome whatever life throws at us and know we can do all things through Christ, who not only strengthens us, but also holds us together.

Our lives are built on the solid rock of Jesus and He will never be shaken and He will make sure we’re not shaken either, even though the world around us will be. So if you’ve been getting distressed maybe it would help to keep reminding yourself throughout the day “Jesus is holding me steady. He won’t let me be shaken.” What a wonderful Saviour we have in Jesus. Thank You Lord.

Psalm 62:2 He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will never be shaken.

 

OVERWHELMING ODDS TURNED ROUND

Psalm 136:1 O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.

Before one of Israel’s famous battles (2 Chronicles 20) the King told the worshippers and singers to go out in front of the army to sing God’s praise and thank Him that His mercy, His loving kindness in other words, went on and on forever, no matter what. God fought and won that battle for them, turned it all around and caused their enemies to destroy each other, and Israel had a huge victory. 

The important thing was they obeyed the instruction to magnify their God in the face of what seemed like overwhelming odds against them. There’s a lesson there for all of us. Praise precedes the victory! They magnified their God instead of magnifying their problem. So if we have to deal with what looks like overwhelming situations any time we can do the same thing.

They maybe didn’t feel like praising God because of their fear, but they praised anyway even though those singers were totally vulnerable at the front of the army. Usually you send in the Marines first, but God’s ways are not our ways and His ways work.😊

They knew that their God was good and they declared it. Another verse tells us He does only good (Psalm 119:68) which is why we can trust Him all the time. If we have a muddled idea about God where we think He sometimes does us good, sometimes He does us harm then we can’t trust Him. But scripture is full of the goodness of God and His heart of loving kindness towards us. He wants us to know He is for us all the time, not some of the time and He’ll turn things round for our good when we trust Him.

So let’s join with countless millions down through the centuries and declare with them “God is good and His mercy, His lovingkindness, endures forever.” Amen.

Have a blessed weekend.😊

Psalm 100:5 For the Lord is good. His unfailing love continues forever, and his faithfulness continues to each generation. 

MAKING A GRAND ENTRANCE!

2 Peter 1:3 (Nlt) By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life.

I know I’m short sighted and have to wear specs but I think all of us can be a bit spiritually short sighted at times. 

Apostle Peter tells us how to avoid short sightedness or spiritual blindness and there’s a good reason for it. He says if we do what he says we will never fall away(v10) and give us a grand entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.(v.11)  So if you don’t want to fall away, but you do want a grand entrance, read on.😊

Peter says we’ve been given everything we need for living a godly life by first coming to know Jesus as our Lord and Saviour. But if you’ve ever wondered how to live a godly life, he explains it’s only made possible by responding to, or you could say by acting on, God’s promises and they will produce great results.  

2 Peter 1:5-8 In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, … with knowledge, …with self-control, … with patient endurance, … with godliness, … with brotherly affection, … with love for everyone.

We can only do all of that with the help of the Holy Spirit inside us and by believing the promises but he wants us to make every effort! There will be times when we’re given an opportunity to do or say something which we know wouldn’t be godly and we have to choose God’s way. He says if we don’t actively develop in this way we’re being short sighted but if we do we will be productive and useful (v.8) and it will eventually lead us to the grand entrance.(v.11)

So the Holy Spirit is reminding us to tune in to Him more and more throughout our day and allow Him to help us not to be short sighted, but to act on God’s promises, by living godly lives, and produce the character God wants, so we become more like Jesus Himself. 

And if I get to glory ahead of you, I’ll be waiting for you to make your grand entrance.😊 Amen.

ATTENTION SEEKERS!

Proverbs 4:20 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.

At this time of year our minds can suffer from overload through trying to work out what to buy everybody for Christmas! I wonder if anyone else is like that?😊 It’s hard then to concentrate on our time with the Lord and to hear what He’s saying. For you, your mind may be filled with work problems, family concerns, planning the weekend or a hundred and one other busy things that take up our time quite legitimately. They are attention seekers!

I find the only way to deal with it is to stop focusing on the thing that’s grabbing my attention all the time and completely look away from it till my mind can clear. Whatever we look at is going to have our attention and our verse says to pay attention instead to what God says in His word.

There are three places God wants His word to be -  in front of our eyes, in our ears and deep in our hearts. In other words although it’s easy to be constantly on our phones or tablets and have ‘Screenitis’ we have to put the words of scripture in front of our eyes instead! There’s a big reward for doing it though, it’s life and healing to our bodies because it acts like medicine. 

Very often we don’t realise the healing properties of just reading and listening to the Word of God but it is a promise from God so we can believe it. Next time you feel like you have ‘Screenitis’, or ‘Worryitis’ or any other ‘itis’ causing your mind to get bogged down and trying to take all your attention, just stop and read a scripture for a little while and let it minister peace to your mind and healing to your soul. You wont regret it.😊

Isaiah 26:3 You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.

OUR FAITHFUL GOD

Lamentations 3:22-24 The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!”

If there’s one thing we all need to know, especially when we’re going through a season of testing, it is that our God is faithful to us. Even when we can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel, God is faithful and He will see us through to the other side. I can testify to that in my own life many times.

He always has been faithful and He always will be because it’s just who He is. He is a covenant keeping God, the One who never lets us down or backs off from His Word when things are difficult.

Just because we go through testing times doesn’t mean God has abandoned us, or that He doesn’t love us anymore, and He’s not cross with us or punishing us for something we have, or have not done. 

Jesus Himself took all our punishment in His own body on the Cross, He took all our sin and shame, all our guilt, all our sicknesses, all our mistakes, everything we deserved Jesus took it upon Himself for us. In its place He gave us what we didn’t deserve - His forgiveness, His righteousness, His healing grace and every other good thing including His joy and peace of mind and heart. Thank You Lord.

So when the enemy comes and whispers that God’s not listening, or that He’s left you for some reason, just laugh at the thought and remember our God is forever faithful to us. He’s right here with us, underpinning and strengthening us, walking through the fiery furnace with us and bringing us out victorious! 

Even if things appear worse, know God is faithful. When it seems to go on and on, know God is faithful. He will never abandon, forsake or leave you without support. He will bring you through so don’t give up. Know God loves you, He is faithful to you and always will be. Amen.😊

Hebrews 10:23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess for He who promised is faithful.

OUR CHUCKLE MUSCLE!

Job 8:21 He will once again fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy.

I bumped into someone I knew a few years ago and stopped to chat. He was saying how important it is to make every effort to be cheerful when so many people are downhearted. This chap doesn’t believe in God yet, but he does believe in not allowing other people’s bad attitudes to bring him down. As he left me he said we have to keep exercising our ‘chuckle’ muscle.

Well that thought did make me chuckle so we parted company laughing.😊 I wonder if your chuckle muscle has gone on holiday lately? Maybe you haven’t had much to chuckle about and life has been very serious. 

Proverbs 17:22(TPT) A joyful, cheerful heart brings healing to both body and soul. Chatting with that man reminded me that scripture tells us there is a lot of healing in laughter and it made me think of a true story I’d heard.

There was a lady who was majorly depressed and on constant strong medication for it. She kept going to see different doctors trying to get well until she came across one who said he had a new prescription for her and if she would do as he said she would feel better. The prescription said for the next few months to stop watching anything sad and watch an upbeat funny programme or film every day and to read joke books! 

She thought he was joking but did as he said and some months later she saw him again. She was off all medication and he could tell immediately she was a totally different person, upbeat, joyful, normal and able to deal with life once more. Laughing had put life back into perspective and healed her!

Now I’m not saying to do that but I think we could maybe all do with finding something to laugh at every day for a while and allow the Lord to help us exercise our chuckle muscle a bit more. When there’s nothing to laugh about, sometimes we have to find something to laugh at even if it’s a silly clean joke and start to see God’s natural healing flow once more.😊 

Lord help us to laugh more. Amen.

WHAT TO DO NEXT

1 Thessalonians 5:18 Be thankful in all circumstances for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

Yesterday we looked at having great expectation, believing we’ve received our answer, even before we see it. The Holy Spirit tells us in our verse one of the things to do next.😊

Jesus doesn’t say to keep asking over and over again in Mark 11:22-25. He taught His disciples to ask, receive, and to speak to things. When we’ve asked our Heavenly Father to fulfil His promise we need to know that not one word of all His promises has ever failed. (Joshua 21:45)

So one of our next steps is to tell whatever is bothering us to be removed and to start thanking God for the answer that’s on its way. Thank God all through the day that He is the One who is healing us, the One who is providing for us. In my case I need to say ‘Thank You Lord for providing me with a good night’s sleep’ before I see it!😊

The enemy tries to throw up everything in our way to make us doubt God’s word, to make us think it’s not happening but let me encourage you to dig your heels in and say ‘Thank You Lord for answering my prayer, it’s on the way. Thank You for healing me, for restoring health back to me, thank you Lord even though I can’t see it yet, You always do what Your word says.’

I’m sure we’ve all complained or begged God to do things but I’m learning the more I complain I hinder what God is doing because God can’t reward our complaining but He can reward our faith. 

Maybe you’re thinking ‘I don’t have much faith any more’. Let me encourage you by telling you, you do still have faith. You got saved by faith, God Himself lives in you and He brought His faith with Him and put it in you. So don’t listen to the enemy’s lies!

Instead may I encourage you as we start another week to turn what may look like the enemy’s defeats into God’s victories with your thanksgiving. Give the enemy a headache and praise our God, He is mighty to save and He always keeps His promises. 

I pray you have a blessed week.😊

OUR GREAT EXPECTATION

1Peter 1:3-4 (Nlt)

All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, 

because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. 

Now we live with great expectation,

and we have a priceless inheritance - 

an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you…

When Peter saw the Lord Jesus nailed to the cross and then die, he certainly didn’t expect him to be raised back to life again. He would have thought it was impossible because it had never happened before. But here he is reminding us all that God raised Jesus back up from death and the grave, alive forevermore. The unexpected had happened before his very eyes!

Now he’s telling us we can all live with great expectation. No wonder! He’d seen the impossible made possible. He’d seen something he would never have expected in a million years and it had suddenly taken place. Now he says there can be nothing too big to expect from God. Hallelujah!😊

God wants us to get up in the morning with great expectation that He will be actively working on our behalf in every situation, knowing nothing is too hard for Him. May I ask, what are you expecting from God? 

Mark 11:24 I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours. What a statement to make! Jesus said to believe we’ve already received our prayer request when we ask for it. In other words to expect to see it because we’ve already got it, before we see it,  because that’s the kind of loving Heavenly Father we have. How wonderful that is.

Peter goes on to remind us that our great expectation is taking us through to our priceless inheritance when we eventually go to be with the Lord in heaven. 

Our great expectations are not just for this life but for all eternity as well. If that doesn’t lift our spirits I don’t know what will!😊 

Be encouraged today, believe it, we really can live with great expectation in our wonderful God. Amen.

DEALING WITH ANXIOUS THOUGHTS

Romans 12:2 Don’t copy the behaviour and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think….

I was reminded yesterday about a quote of Corrie ten Boom’s which said. “Anxiety is like a rocking chair, it keeps moving but it goes nowhere. That’s very true isn’t it and unfortunately we’ve all sat in that rocking chair at some time or another!😊

Anxiety sometimes comes out of nowhere and catches us unawares. We can either dwell on it and let it grow out of all proportion, or we can choose to block it with God’s word as soon as it comes. Whatever we pay attention to grows bigger in our minds which is why we know it’s so important to pay attention to God’s word to let it grow bigger than any circumstance we might be dealing with.

Anxiety seems to arrive on our doorstep with its partner the ‘what ifs’, demanding to be let in! It says, “What if such and such goes wrong?” but we can turn any ‘what if’ the other way round and say, “Well what if it goes right! What if it turns out better than you ever thought possible?” 

We may have to fight a tendency to lean towards the negative instead of the positive because God says to be transformed by the renewing of our minds, to retrain our thinking so we come in line with God’s word. It  tells us Jesus came to give us abundant life, it tells us not to worry, that God is holding us in the palm of His hand. It’s full of reassurance, upbeat and encouraging!

God tells us He is the God of all hope and you can’t feel discouraged and hopeful at the same time, so we can smile remembering we’re on God’s side, the hope filled, winning side.

God Himself tells us what to do with anxiety when He says in Philippians 4:6 (Nkjv) Be anxious for nothing,… The NLT says Don’t worry about anything; instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

God wants us worry free and He gives us the ‘how to’. Now our part is to follow the maker’s instructions and ask the Holy Spirit to help us get up out of our rocking chairs.😊

Have a great weekend.

WALKING THROUGH TODAY WITH GOD’S HELP

2 Corinthians 12:9 Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.

Sometimes we go through seasons that seem to go on and on and we can feel like we’re plodding through a dry wilderness. Maybe we feel like we need a cup of water, we need refreshing, we need encouragement, we need hope in the wilderness. We just need something! Have you ever felt like that?

Well take heart because God says He gives us His grace for today, and there will be more grace for tomorrow or for our months or years down the line, but He wants us just to focus on today and walk through today with His help and His strength. When tomorrow comes He will give us what we need then.

The enemy tries to make us focus only on ourselves, on our situation and we forget the others around us who are also going through their own difficulties. It might help us if we took our eyes off our own wilderness and try to help someone else going through theirs and use our faith to help build them up, to encourage them to know God is holding them up too, because He is.😊

God says He works through our weakness which is so reassuring. Our weakness doesn’t disqualify us, but just the opposite. God says as we give, so it will be given to us, that includes encouragement.

The good news is, if you’re in a wilderness, God won’t leave you there, it has an exit point and He is taking you one step at a time, holding you securely, asking you to trust Him even if the wind is howling in your ears and all you can see is sand and more sand. 

So if you’re in a wilderness situation today, and all you can see is more of the same, be encouraged because God is right there beside you, leading and strengthening you with His grace. Don’t look past today, there’s no need to worry about tomorrow, God will take care of it. Concentrate on believing God for His grace, His power and His wisdom to make the best of today, knowing He’s already in our tomorrow waiting to give us new mercies, and new grace when we need it. 

Hebrews 4:16 So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.

STIRRING UP OUR FAITH

2 Timothy 1:6 Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you…..

I’m here today to stir up the gift of our faith which God has given us, to encourage us to hang in there, to know God is on our side and working mightily behind the scenes on our behalf. What are we believing for today? What scripture, what promise are we standing on?

Maybe we don’t know the promises God has given us but we can use our internet, type in promises of God for healing, for finances, for whatever we need and they will come up. We can then find it in our bible, underline it, lay hold of it, write it out, pin it to our mirror. We need to do whatever it takes to get it down in our spirit, so it comes alive in our heart and keep declaring it, and bringing it to God in prayer.

1 Kings 18 Elijah was standing on God’s promise that when His people obeyed Him He would open the windows of heaven for them.(Deuteronomy 28:12) Well they had turned back to God and Elijah stood on God’s promise and earnestly called for the rain after three and a half years. 

He sent his servant to the top of the mountain to see if he could see any sign of it coming. Six times he went and said, ‘There’s no sign, nothing, zero!” But on the seventh time he looked and saw a cloud the size of a man’s hand, that’s all it was, just a little cloud, hardly worth mentioning! But faith believes for the big when it only sees the little.

Now, what promise are you standing on? Maybe there’s no sign of it happening, but keep looking. Or perhaps you’ve looked and all you can see is a tiny improvement in your circumstance, hardly worth mentioning. Well praise God because the heavens are about to open. Don’t let the enemy steal your progress. Believe the promise, praise God and thank Him for any and every little progress you can see and hang on to it. Don’t let doubt creep in. Watch what God will do as you stir up your faith. 

I’ve got my big spoon out and I’m stirring our faith.😊 Now believe for the big when you still can’t see anything, believe for the big when you can only see the little! Our God is a promise keeper! 

Lord help us stir up our faith. Amen.

GOD’S FACE IS SHINING ON US

Numbers 6:24-26 The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.

I was listening to a mum recounting how when her son was a little boy he was afraid of the dark and he would call out in the night from his bed “Is Daddy’s face turned towards me Mummy?” She would tell him that it was and he knew he could go back to sleep because everything would be all right, he would be safe and looked after, because his Daddy was looking in his direction, his face was towards him.

In the same way God is our Heavenly Father and He has given us His blessing by telling us His face is turned towards us and He is giving us His peace. When I was little and I saw my dad scowling at me I knew He wasn’t pleased, but God is not scowling at any of us because He’s not mad at us anymore. He has already forgiven us because of Jesus. Hallelujah!

We can rest and relax in that sure knowledge of His face shining down on us. What does that mean? It means God is pleased with us because when we asked Jesus into our hearts He made us righteous in His eyes. It means He loves us with an everlasting love, we belong to Him, and He’s watching over us to take care of everything as we put our hand in His and trust Him for our now and our days to come.

We have a compassionate, caring God and He’s looking in our direction all the time. What concerns us also concerns Him and He’s not only holding us safely in the palm of His hand, but He is working behind the scenes on our behalf bringing the promises we’re believing Him for, to come to pass in our lives.

His face is shining, radiating His goodness, faithfulness, love and kindness in our direction. We can turn our faces up to Him knowing that’s how He feels about us. We can run into His outstretched arms and just rest in His presence and receive His blessing.😊 Thank You Lord. Amen.

A WORLD OF WONDER

 James 1:17 Whatever is good and perfect comes down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow. 

I found a tiny leaf the other day off one of our trees and showed it to Chris, it was so perfect. He’d just been reading about a man who was out walking with his two year old son when he came to a viewing point and he lifted his son up and said “Son, look at the beautiful view, how wonderful it is.” 

The little boy was too small to appreciate the big view, but he grabbed a leaf off the tree beside him and held it up to his daddy. He said “Look at the weaf daddy, look at the weaf”. His dad thought it was an ordinary brown leaf until he really looked at it and saw the wonder of the intricate red and gold veins running through it. His little boy had found a world of wonder in the leaf, whereas he had found a world of wonder in the glorious view.

Friends, God wants us to notice and see the wonder of all the good things He has provided because they all matter. He’s given them to bless us whether it’s in the big picture or the tiny details but it’s easy to miss them when we focus on the tragedies we see going on in the world. The fact we even woke up this morning is by the goodness and mercy of God.😊

Every good thing comes from our Heavenly Father and our part is to acknowledge and thank Him for them. He wants us to enjoy even the seemingly ordinary things He has crafted just for us, and not take anything for granted, whether it’s the big events, the littlest leaf or the breath we breathe.

Psalm 126:3 The Lord has done great things for us and we are glad. Be blessed as you see the goodness and mercy He gives us this week.

Lord help us to stay focused on You and really look and see the wonder of all You have provided, whether it’s in nature, or in the circumstances you orchestrate to bless us. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

EXPECTING MIRACLES IN OUR EVERYDAY

Luke 18:27 But He said, “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.”

Last night a very elderly lady in church was sharing how she’d had a fresh insight into Jesus being our Good Shepherd and how He’s looking after us. She recounted how she went to the Remembrance Day event in the park with hundreds of people earlier in the day but when she came back she realised she’d lost one of her new hearing aids and was most upset. She’d only had it 10 days!

Then she heard a small voice saying “Go and find it!” It was less than 1” long and she thought the chances of finding it were almost impossible but she obeyed, put all her outdoor clothes back on and went back out into the cold. She said to her very frail husband, “I need a miracle!” to which he replied “You certainly do!” She hadn’t walked 70 yards along the pavement when she saw it! No one had trampled on it, despite the crowds, and all was well. She had indeed had a miracle!😊

Her Good Shepherd was showing her how He was involved in all the things that concerned her and was helping her believe Him for the impossible, to believe for miracles when she needed them.

Do you need a miracle in some way today? Have your circumstances made you think it’s impossible? Well be encouraged by this elderly lady and trust your Good Shepherd, the Lord Jesus. He is the same yesterday, today and forever and what He does for one He will do for you. He is still the God of miracles.

Job 5:9 He does great things too marvellous to understand. He performs countless miracles.

Luke 1:37 For nothing is impossible with God.

As we begin a new week, let your hopes rise up again, don’t give in to discouraging thoughts, obey His still small voice when He tells you what to do, and believe God for the miracles you need in your every day. He is still our Way Maker, Miracle Worker, and our Promise Keeper. Thank You Lord. 

Have a blessed week.x

WHEN WE CAN’T SLEEP

Psalm 63:6-8

 I lie awake thinking of you, meditating on you through the night.

 Because you are my helper, I sing for joy in the shadow of your wings. 

I cling to you; your strong right hand holds me securely.

I’m sure, at some time, we’ve all found ourselves lying in bed unable to sleep, thoughts and worries churning through our minds in the small hours of the night. King David was in a similar situation but he tackled it differently. Instead of lying there worrying, he chose to think about his God instead.

He took his focus off all his concerns and thought if I’m going to lie awake anyway, I’d be better off thinking about how good God is and how His love has never failed me yet, nor ever will. He reminds himself how God has always been there to help him and he’s very aware that the Lord is so close His shadow is actually covering him. What a lovely thought because we can say the same.😊

As he lies there he talks to the Lord, and even sings to Him because he has a deep down joy knowing  God’s hand is holding him, making him feel wonderfully safe and secure. He knew who to cling to.

David had learned a lot of wisdom and we’d probably do well to follow his example. Instead of dwelling on the multitude of things that he could be worrying about, he chose to dwell on three things that encouraged him - God helps me, God protects me and God holds me securely. 

Now the next time we find ourselves just lying there tossing and turning in the night, let’s do the David thing and think about our loving God and how He’s right there with us, just waiting for us to cast all those cares over on to Him, knowing He’s more than able to look after us and sort it all out while He holds us safe. Amen.

Psalm 63:3 Your unfailing love is better than life itself; how I praise you!

START THE DAY RIGHT

Psalm 90:14 Satisfy us each morning with your unfailing love, so we may sing for joy to the end of our lives.

I was given a pair of socks for my birthday and here’s the label that said “start your day right”! I thought how those words can apply to all of us, even if  you don’t have the socks.🤣 How we begin our day tends to set the tone for what follows afterwards so it would be good to get it off to a good start.

We know God loves us but it would lift our spirits if we remind ourselves of it every morning, so we go out secure in His love and the knowledge that He is caring for and protecting us. Go out with a picture in our minds of Jesus walking beside us with His loving arm round our shoulders.

The Psalmist decided he was going to sing for joy every morning and that’s a good idea too. Now you may not be a ‘morning’ person but even so it will still go better when we start with a cheerful attitude knowing God is for us and He has given us His favour and grace for whatever we have to do that day, all because of Jesus. There was an old song which said “Give a little whistle” and sometimes that’s all it takes to make us smile!😊

God says to ask Him for His help and His wisdom because He knows we’ll need it and it’s wiser to ask for it before we need it, than wait till we’re in the thick of it! And if we read His word first thing then we give Him the opportunity to speak to us too. Psalm 119:105 Your word is a lamp to guide my feet, and a light for my path.

So when you wake up every morning as you put on your socks, or whatever, just think about starting your day right with the God who unfailingly loves you, and give a little whistle, it might just lead you to burst into a joyful song of praise.😊

Psalm 59:16 But as for me, I will sing about your power. Each morning I will sing with joy about your unfailing love. For you have been my refuge, a place of safety when I am in distress.

Have a blessed weekend everybody.x

 

FAITH THAT GROWS EXCEEDINGLY

 2 Thessalonians 1:3 ….your faith grows exceedingly… 

Do you remember those little crystal growing trees we used to have back in the day? You pour the fluid on the cardboard tree and it suddenly grows crystals before your eyes over a few hours. I saw some this week and they made me think of how our faith grows. 

God has given us His own righteousness so we can’t be any more righteous than we are now, but our verse says we can grow in faith exceedingly.😊

We all have the measure of faith or we wouldn’t have been able to be saved in the first place, but our faith comes, and grows in greater measure, when we keep hearing and hearing the word of God. (Romans 10:17) It’s like the little tree, the more we pour the word of God into our ears and hearts the more our faith will grow.

Faith leaves by listening to the words of the world and the devil, but we want our faith coming, not going! When we hear things like ‘you’ll never get well, never be strong, never be able to pay your bills, etc. that’s not faith talking. We want to hear things from God’s word that build our faith up, like ‘I can do all things through Christ, God has sent His Word and healed me, I am surrounded by God’s favour, He is providing all my needs, I am blessed going out and coming in.’ 

Faith is in the present moment, in our ‘now’ life. We’re called to walk by faith but we can’t walk in our past or our future, we can only walk in our now. Faith doesn’t come by having heard, it comes by ‘hearing’, present tense. …hearing and hearing the word of God.

If we want to have faith for physical health and healing, or for anything else, we have to have the word of God on it, what He says in scripture. When we know what God says and wants, then we can believe for it in the middle of the storm, we’ll have what God wants us to have and get to where God wants us to be.

3 John 2 Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers. That’s what God wants for us, so our faith can grow as we hear and meditate on that Word.😊Amen.

PEACE IN THE STORM

John 14:27 Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

There was a painting competition where the artists were asked to paint a picture depicting peace. The competitors painted the usual pictures of tranquil scenes, beautiful landscapes, etc. but the picture which won the competition showed a fierce storm. With gale force winds, thunder and lightening flashing across the sky and torrential rain the artist had painted in the cleft of a rock, a small mother bird sheltering her babies under her wings, totally at peace safe from the storm.

When Jesus was about to leave this earth He told His disciples He was leaving them the gift of His peace. They had seen Him facing the fierce storms of life but in it all He had total peace, and it was that peace He was giving to his disciples and also to you and me. He wants us to not just know His peace, but to be at peace, just like the mother bird, as we shelter in the rock who is Jesus Himself. He is our Deliverer, our Strong Tower.

The Lord knows the storms of life we’re facing, but He doesn’t want us to go through them fearful and troubled, but with His peace, because He is the Prince of Peace and He is with and in us. He is Emmanuel, God with us and if God be for us, and He is, then who or what can be against us - no one. He has a strong hold of our hand, strengthening and upholding us.😊

I keep getting in my spirit recently that God is not just taking us through but He is bringing us out. He wants you to know that whatever situation you are facing He wants you to receive His peace, and be at peace, confident in the fact that He has you in the palm of His hand and He is bringing you through and out safely. 

His good plans for your life have not changed and you will fulfil them in Jesus Name. Amen.

Isaiah 26:3 You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.

THE REWARDS OF PATIENCE

Galatians 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’ve just finished these little tortoises for a friend as her husband keeps six tortoises down the end of their garden and wanted them for her grandchildren. 

We all know tortoises are rather slow, and they reminded me of the fact that things can go rather slowly in our lives when we’re waiting for things to happen. It might be at the red traffic light and praying it would go green when we’re in a hurry, or hoping our prayers will be answered more quickly. Whatever it is, some things can’t be hurried but they are worth waiting for.😊

In a world that wants everything instantly it can be hard waiting for God to bring about the answer to our prayers but scripture says we inherit the promises through faith and patience, (Hebrews 6:12) but we tend to conveniently forget the ‘and patience’ bit! 

We don’t hear a lot of teaching on patience but it’s one of the nine fruit of the Spirit and it’s not a virtue that comes naturally to some of us. Thankfully it’s the Holy Spirit who produces it in our spirit, along with all the other fruit, but we do have to cooperate with Him when we feel frustration building up like a bottle of pop waiting to explode! We don’t want to be like the person who said “God give me patience and I want it now!”

Abraham and Sarah had to wait patiently for years for their promised son to arrive, Joseph had 13 years of slavery and imprisonment, waiting patiently to be released, and on the day he was released he was also made prime minister!

You see, it’s worth being patient because it brings great rewards. So next time you feel impatience beginning to rise up, just take a deep breath and call on the Holy Spirit to help you produce some lovely fruit of patience and see the reward manifest at just the right time.

Whatever it is we’re waiting for, God knows all about it and He has it all in hand, so we can relax and do our part by staying in faith and being patient!😊

Colossians 1:11 We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy, always thanking the Father.

WORTHY, QUALIFIED AND DELIVERED!

Colossians 1:12-13 (TPT)Your hearts can soar with joyful gratitude when you think of how God made you worthy to receive the glorious inheritance freely given to us by living in the light. He has rescued us completely from the tyrannical rule of darkness and has translated us into the kingdom realm of his beloved Son. 

Col 1:12-13 (Nkjv) giving thanks unto the Father, who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. Who has delivered us from the power of darkness…

Worthy, qualified rescued and delivered! That is who we are if we’re born again believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. Isn’t that wonderful?!

I’ve given us two translations of these verses as it really helps us understand them better and will help our faith grow. God says He’s not only made us worthy but He’s qualified us to receive the inheritance He’s provided. Jesus did that for us! He says He has completely delivered us from the devil’s darkness and power, taken us out of his kingdom (past tense), so Satan has no authority over us any more!

If we don’t keep reminding ourselves of who we are and what God has done for us then we’ll easily fall for the devil’s lies when he tells us we don’t deserve anything from God, we’re trapped in disease, poverty or circumstances, that we’re powerless to do anything about it. 

Listen, when Satan says that to us, we have to stand and resist him and tell him it’s written ‘I’ve been made worthy by God already, I’m already qualified to receive everything He has for me, I’ve already been delivered from all your power devil, so GO, GET OUT!’

Be encouraged today and let your heart soar as you keep remembering what God says about you. You are on the winning side and you’ve already been translated into the Kingdom of His beloved Son, not going to be. Hallelujah! As we let those truths sink into our hearts I pray we’ll want to speak them out and cause our faith to grow.😊

Thank You Lord for bringing us into Your wonderful kingdom, for delivering us from the power of darkness, for making us worthy to receive all You have for us in Jesus’ Name. Amen.

IN THE ‘IN BETWEEN’

Psalm 118:1/21 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever. I thank you for answering my prayer and giving me victory.

The Psalmist starts and ends this psalm with thanking the Lord for His goodness and declaring His faithful love. He says it five times in one psalm he’s so convinced, but in between we read of his struggles and battles. It’s in the ‘in between’ that the rubber hits the road! 

He recounts how he was in great distress, how his enemies had surrounded and attacked him on all sides. He describes it like bees swarming around him. Have you ever felt like that, like you’re surrounded and attacked on all sides? He says his enemies did their best to kill him but they couldn’t do it because he called out to his God who loved him. V.6 The Lord is for me, so I will have no fear. David knew God loved him so he knew he didn’t have to be afraid, even when everything was seemingly coming against him.

David had to go through many troubles and his ‘in between’ lasted quite a long time but the important thing is, he came out in victory with a song of praise on his lips. He saw the Lord rescue him and all his enemies defeated, no matter how strong they thought they were, and regardless of what came against him.

I just wanted to encourage us all today as we start another week. If you’re fighting battles that seem to go on and on, if you’re experiencing the ‘in between’ stage, know this, you are coming out! God has heard your cries of distress, He is for you not against you and He is giving you the victory. Now stay in faith, praising the Lord for all His goodness and His faithful love for you. He will never abandon you but will bring you out from ‘in between’ to glorious victory.

Psalm 118:29 Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! His faithful love endures forever.

THE LOVING NATURE OF GOD

Psalm 31:19-20

How great is the goodness you have stored up for those who fear you.

You lavish it on those who come to you for protection, 

Blessing them before the watching world.

You hide them in the shelter of your presence,

Safe from those who conspire against them.

You shelter them in your presence, 

Far from accusing tongues.

The other day I bought one or two treats for Christmas time which I’m storing up in advance to save us buying it all at once and maybe you’ve started putting some things away in readiness too?

God likes to store good things up as well!😊 The words the Psalmist uses to describe what God has stored up are quite extravagant, words like lavish, great goodness, and blessing before the watching world. What an amazing and generous God we serve. There is nothing stingy or mean about Him because His heart is to bless His children, His family. God wants you and me to be blessed in every way. 

He wants us to know we can run to Him for protection, to hide in His presence and know He will shelter us even from accusing tongues. God wants us to know His nature, to know how He thinks and acts, just like when we know how someone we’re close to will think and act. 

The more we come to know and understand the nature of God the more we find He is compassionate, long suffering towards our shortcomings, and so ready to forgive because He loves us. 

He no longer wants us to see ourselves as sinners because He calls us the redeemed and forgiven because of Jesus’ shed blood. When we truly repent and ask for His forgiveness He doesn’t even remember our sins anymore! He calls us the righteous, faith filled over-comers Jesus has made us to be, holy and blameless in our spirits in His sight. He even loves us like He loves Jesus! That’s how God thinks, and sees you and me!😊

Lord help us to really know You, not just know about You. We praise You and give You our heartfelt thanks for all your love and great goodness to us and for how Your heart is to bless us before a watching world. We love You Lord. Amen.

TOWARDS A GLORIOUS COMPLETION

Philippians 1:6 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 completed quite a long process of making three Miniature Camping Sets for a friend ready for Christmas stockings. I’m sure we all know the satisfaction of a job well done when we stand back and think ‘Yay, I’ve finally finished, it’s done!’ It might be decorating or doing a jigsaw or doing the washing!

Our verse reminds us that God promises to bring us to completion as well, but until then He’s also told us it will be one day at a time, going from glory to glory. It may not always feel like it’s glory but as we allow Him to transform us, even the hard trials will do a work of future glory in us which we’ll one day understand and appreciate, although it can be hard at the time! 2 Corinthians 3:18(GN) All of us, reflect the glory of the Lord with uncovered faces, and that same glory, coming from the Lord, who is the Spirit, transforms us into his likeness in an ever greater degree of glory.

When I was making my mini camping sets I had to experiment to see how it would all come together but with God He doesn’t need to experiment. He already knows the end from the beginning and has told us He’ll turn it all round for our good in the end. 

God is in the business of lifting us up, giving us the faith to overcome whatever comes against us as He reminds us no weapon will ultimately win against us because He is for us. All He needs is for us to keep trusting Him to work a good work in us for His glory and ours.

So be encouraged, you’re a wonderful work in progress and one day we’ll stand before the Lord and He’ll say well done for sticking with it and letting Me transform you to be like Jesus, and bring you to a glorious completion. Won’t that be wonderful!?😊

Enjoy a blessed weekend.x

GOD REVIVES AND RESTORES

Isaiah 57:15 The high and lofty one who lives in eternity, the Holy One, says this: “I live in the high and holy place with those whose spirits are contrite and humble. I restore the crushed spirit of the humble and revive the courage of those with repentant hearts.

We’ve all experienced battle fatigue from time to time and our spirits seem to flag because it seems like one thing after another has to be dealt with, so if you’ve been feeling like you need some restoring and reviving then our verse is good news because that’s what God wants to do for each of us.😊 

God says He lives with humble people. I know being humble doesn’t mean to be a grovelling doormat type of person or full of false humility. Nor is it someone full of themselves, or their own importance!

I believe being humble is acknowledging our need of God 24/7, instead of thinking we can manage some things on our own, because only then can we be all He’s called us to be.😊

Philippians 2:8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the cross. Jesus humbled Himself to come to earth and then He had to make His desires come in line with what God wanted in order to do His will. As His followers we’re called to humble ourselves to obey God in the same way. 

When we have a heart that says it’s sorry for doing things our own way and humble ourselves to do it God’s way we allow Him to put His courage in us and revive our flagging spirits. His courage will silence our discouragements. His reviving will nourish us, recover, repair and restore us to life.

So for anyone who’s been feeling a bit crushed or need reviving then be encouraged because God’s heart is to bless and build us back up to be all He wants us to be; filled with His Spirit and power, full of His love and compassion, once more overflowing with His joy and peace as we keep trusting Him. 

Thank You Lord for Your amazing grace as we come acknowledging our total need of You and ask You to restore and revive us again in Jesus Name. Amen.

WE ARE WELL ABLE!

Ephesians 6:11-12 Put on all of God’s armour so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. For we are not fighting against flesh and blood enemies, but against evil rulers, and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.

We are able! That’s the voice of faith talking. In Numbers 13:30-31(Nkjv) there were 12 men who spied out the new land but when 10 of them saw the giants they said “We are not able”. That’s the voice of doubt talking! But Joshua and Caleb said, “We are well able to overcome! Let us go up at once.” Now, let’s join Joshua and Caleb, the only two of the 12 who enjoyed the promised land, put our God given armour on, and say with them “We are well able! I am well able!” 

Even though there are unseen forces at work bringing discouragement, disease and depression with them we’re told we can resist them when we stand in faith and know God has said we’re able through Christ to deal with them all. His grace is sufficient for each day, for every battle that we face. We can go into our day declaring “For I can do everything through Christ who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:13)

God tells us we’re dealing with principalities and powers and that we’re to stand strong against them, put all of His armour on and fight the good fight of faith against them. We need to stand and say “Devil, take your diseases, take your discouragement and depression and get out of my life. I resist you in Jesus’ name.”

God has given us His Word, His Blood, and His Name and we can use all three against the devil. Satan trembles at the name of Jesus because it reminds him Jesus stripped him of his power at the cross and stripped him of the keys of death and hell when He rose again.  

We can stand on God’s Word, washed in the blood, and tell the devil we wont let him give us a life of misery, that we resist him in the mighty name of Jesus because God has made us well able to overcome and have the victory. Glory to God.😊

SHOUT GRACE TO IT!

Zechariah 4:6-7…”This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit’ Says the Lord of hosts. ‘Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain! And he shall bring forth the capstone with shouts of “Grace, grace to it!”

Yesterday we looked at making a sacrifice of praise, believing God for deliverance from our situation. Today we’re looking at God’s grace and how powerful it is, by the power of the Holy Spirit, in defeating our mountains that try to overwhelm us.

Zerubbabel and his men were rebuilding the temple of God, they had the foundations laid and were already offering sacrifices on the alter as instructed. Then the people of the land tried to discourage them, and troubled them as they went about their work. They even wrote letters to the authorities to try to stop them and it’s then we see God speak into their situation.

We’ve all had times when people have discouraged us, when they’ve given us trouble but here God tells us what to do about it.

He tells him to shout at his mountain and what is it he is to shout? It’s “Grace! Grace!” God says the same thing to us today. Whatever our situation, whatever our mountain we too can shout ‘Grace’ to it because we have the grace of God through the Lord Jesus over our whole lives. We’ve been saved by grace through faith now we can put it to work in our practical everyday situations.

God’s grace is His undeserved favour on our lives and even if we don’t deserve for the mountain to be removed that’s what grace is all about. We all qualify for it as we’re all undeserving, and it’s all the goodness of God.😊

So whatever you’re dealing with, call on the grace, the favour of God today, shout “Grace. Grace!” to it and believe the Holy Spirit will move on your behalf to change things in Jesus’ name. Amen.