WHO OR WHAT IS IN THE CENTRE?

1 Corinthians 6:19 Don’t you realise that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price….

Who or what is in the centre? It’s ok, it’s not one of those trick questions where you have to decide whether you can see a cube or just spots!😊 It’s just a question we need to ask ourselves as often as we need to, to check and see what’s at the centre of our lives. 

It’s so easy to be focused on ourselves all the time because that’s where it’s all happening for us! We ask how do I look? How do I feel today? How am I going to manage? 

Matthew 6:33 Seek ye first the Kingdom of God… Jesus talked about our anxieties and concerns and told us not to worry about it all but to turn our attention instead to God’s kingdom and His way of doing and being right. Jesus said to give first place, first thoughts, first of our energies to seeking what God wants and then He added this wonderful promise - if you’ll do that then God will add everything else to you. Do we struggle sometimes because we have it back to front?

We wake up and think of all the things we’ve planned for the day and we might forget to ask ‘What does God want of me today?’ I know we all have responsibilities, we have to go to work, or run the home and family, or whatever, but if those things are taking first place, and we just try to fit God in somewhere as and where and when we can, then alarm bells should be ringing, because we’re maybe in danger of becoming ‘my kingdom’ centred and not God centred!

Our verse tells us we’re not our own anymore, that we actually belong to God because Jesus bought us with His own life blood. What a price to pay! This is just a gentle reminder, to myself as well, that maybe we do some things because we’ve  decided to do them, but is it possible God is tapping us on the shoulder saying - “Where am I in what you’re doing?” 

If that’s so, then will you join with me and ask the Lord to show us how to always give Him first place every day of the week, and put Him in the centre of everything we do, so we can honestly answer our question and say, “God is in the centre of my life and I’m giving Him first place”. Amen.😊

EARTHQUAKE!

Psalm 62:1(NLT) I wait quietly before God, for my victory comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will never be shaken. 

We were living in Lincolnshire in 2008 when our house, along with many others was hit by an earthquake which was 5.2 on the Richter scale, which the BBC called ‘rather large’!😊 We were woken in the middle of the night by a terrific noise and it felt like a freight train was driving through the whole house, everything shook for several seconds. Lights in the road all came on, everyone was up trying to find out what had happened, the old church steeple across the road was damaged, chimneys fell but praise God He protected us and we had no damage. It was a miracle and I hope I never go through another one like that!

Sometimes we go through things in life that can seem earth shaking and we may even feel like we can’t go on. But I’ve discovered in my own life, when I told the Lord I didn’t think I could go on, when I was so weak and had no strength left, and could barely stand, that when we call on the Lord, He steps in and we can.

You may feel like you’re down to your knees. But God wants you to know you were built to outlast the storm, outlast the disease, the trauma, to outlast the shaking, because your life is built on Jesus. He is your foundation stone.

No matter how fierce the storm, you will still be standing because God is the One who is holding on to you and holding you up. It may feel like something is trying to wreck your life but you’re being strengthened on the inside because God has you in the palm of His hand.

Be encouraged today and know that God sees and God knows what’s happening with you and He is doing something behind the scenes you may not be able to see but He has angels on assignment at your house, in your life, and the enemy’s hold is broken off you. You belong to God, bought with the blood of Jesus, and He has won the victory over whatever is trying to mess with you, so hang in there. Don’t give up because the turn around is on its way. 

Believe God loves you, believe He is for you and not against you. Don’t believe all the enemy’s negative lies. Believe and receive the truth that sets you free, that Jesus loves you to the Cross and back and He will never ever leave you or forsake you. Breakthrough, healing and restoration are yours. In Jesus name. Amen.

Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

SUPER SUPPLY

Philippians 4:19(NLT) And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.

I saw a chap walk past the house with a T-shirt on which said ‘SUPER SUPPLY’ and I thought that’s what we have if we’re born again. A supernatural supply of whatever we need from our supernatural God. 😊

2 Corinthians 9:6-8(NLT) Remember this - a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop. You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. For God loves a person who gives cheerfully. And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others.

Paul encourages us to be givers and although we have never ending needs every single day we can always take those promises to the throne of grace and say “Father, Thank You for promising to provide all my needs from Your glorious riches You’ve given me in Jesus. I believe it and receive it. Thank You Lord.”

Our flesh wants to see the provision first then we’ll thank God, but we’re called to walk by faith, to be givers knowing God will provide all our needs so we can thank Him for it before we see it.

It has to do with every sphere of life whether it’s finances, physical health and healing, workplace needs, relationship needs, spiritual needs - whatever and wherever we have a need in our lives - we have a supernatural supply, and it’s accessed by God’s grace through faith, because of Jesus. Paul says in verse 10 that God will provide what we need and then increase what we give. That’s good news!😊

So let’s believe what God has said and be doers of the word, not hearers only. Let’s plant some seeds in faith and ask Him to multiply them with His supernatural supply through Christ Jesus. We don’t need to beg God, but just believe that what He has said He will do, He will do, and thank Him for it before we see it.😊 In Jesus’ name. Amen.

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GOD IS IN THE DETAILS

Psalm 139:1-2 O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me.You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.

Back in the early 1990’s I had been decorating our bathroom using wallpaper with little flowers growing up it and when I stood back after a difficult day wallpapering, I had one of those “Oh no” moments! Ever had one of those?

I’d only hung one of the pieces upside down, in the most difficult piece of all round the window, where everyone would see it! So I had flowers growing upside down for the next several years because I just could not bring myself to tear it off and start again! I should have paid more attention to the detail!😊

Normally I am a ‘detail’ sort of person and God wants us to know that He is too, that He is actively involved in the details of our lives. Scripture says He’s watching over us and knows what’s happening in our homes and in our situations. He sees our daily struggles and our ups and down so don’t ever feel like God doesn’t see or care what’s happening in your life because He does.

Psalm 139 tells us He sees when we sit down, when we get up, He knows what we’re going to say before we say it and He still loves us no matter what. God specialises in sorting out what seems to be the unsortable. He can turn situations around for our good but He wants us to lean into Him and take our hands off what we’re stressing about.

A pastor tells of how God gave him a picture of when he was trusting God with things, there were like golden pipes above his head and there was a wonderful provision of God’s grace and help flowing in his life. But when he was worrying and fretting about everything, it was like he’d squeezed the pipes so tightly only a trickle of the flow could get through.

As we walk into another week, even if you feel all upside down like my wallpaper, let’s remember God cares about, and is involved in every detail of our lives. Let’s not squeeze shut those golden pipes, but give all the situations we can’t do anything about to our loving Father and in faith thank Him He’s going to turn it right side up for us in His way and in His time. 

He has blessings still to come with your name on them, so keep believing He is for you and not against you and that He’s working out the details even when you can’t see it. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Photo by Jelleke Vanooteghem on Unsplash

OUR SOURCE OF NEW STRENGTH

Isaiah 40:28-29

Have you never heard? Have you never understood? 

The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth. 

He never grows weak or weary. 

No one can measure the depths of his understanding. 

He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless.

v. 31 But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. 

They will soar high on wings like eagles. 

They will run and not grow weary. 

They will walk and not faint.

God has a word for anyone who is feeling weak or weary or powerless today. It might be weariness of spirit or body, or both! Our God knows how we feel and where we’re at, and He’s not mad at us and He’s not condemning us. 

He knows we get tired out sometimes and it’s important to rest, but even more important He wants us all to lift our eyes today to the One who never grows weak or weary. He is the source of all the strength we’re ever going to need and He asks us to put our trust and confidence in Him and draw on His strength. 

He says “Let the weak say I am strong.” (Joel 3:10) It’s interesting He wants us to say I am strong, (present tense) not going to be strong, putting it off into the future. God’s ways are not ours, are they? I know when I’m tired I want to tell somebody and say I’m tired!😆 But God says differently!

He promises us new strength, not a rehashed strength. It’s a supernatural strength only He can give us and we can only access it by faith in His word. He’s promised we’ll run and walk where we couldn’t before and I can testify to that. When it was so painful to walk for many months I kept declaring this verse that I will walk and not faint, and praise God, in the last few weeks I can. No pain! When God renews our strength, you do just want to fly!😊

All God asks is that we agree with Him and believe what He says, and let Him do what He says He will do. He never said to reason it out! 

So let’s put our hand in His today and believe He’s pouring His supernatural strength into our bodies and do as He says and keep saying all through the day “I am strong’, I will walk and run and soar like an eagle. In Jesus name. Amen.😊

Photo : Dulcey Lima on Unsplash

HOW ARE YOUR FENCES?

Proverbs 4:23 Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.

It’s been a week for fencing as one of our neighbour’s fence panels collapsed and his garden was all exposed, so he’s just replaced it. Another neighbour has had all new fencing put in, and it made me think about the fences we have around our own lives because fences are for guarding and controlling access.

God tells us to guard our hearts and our mouths. Psalm 141:3 Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; Keep watch over the door of my lips. In other words we need to put some fences up around them, to stop and think before we react, so the enemy can’t just walk right in and cause strife in our relationships or situations.

James 3:16 (KJV) For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. Scripture is very strong on keeping strife out at all cost and we can see why! When we see it raising its ugly head we need to nip it in the bud before it invites other nasties in with it! And if it has come in, be a peacemaker and pour oil on those troubled waters.😊

One of the things we need to be guarding our hearts against is offence. How easy it is to take offence at what someone did or said. We even justify ourselves by saying how wrong they were, and yes, they probably were, but it doesn’t give us any excuse for being in the wrong as well, by not forgiving them! But oh, it’s not easy is it? That’s when we so need the Holy Spirit and His grace to be at work in our hearts to let offences go before they take root and grow. 

We have two lovely trees in our front garden which shed loads of seeds which grow into masses of little trees and if we don’t pull them out immediately it’s really hard to get them out! Offence can be like that, so don’t let it grow into a great big tree! We need to swallow our pride and be reconciled, and just let it go before it messes us up. We hurt ourselves by holding on to it!

So how are your fences? Maybe it’s time to put some new ones up? Not fences of hurt to hide behind, but fences that resist the enemy, fences of love and kindness, fences of long suffering, fences of patience and understanding, then those nasties won’t be able to come in, in the first place. Amen.

Enjoy a sunny, blessed weekend.😊x

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GREAT EXPECTATIONS

Romans 15:13 Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

River Manifold at Ilam Derbyshire

The weather here yesterday was just beautiful, warm and sunny, so we decided to make the most of it and had a picnic day out in Ilam in Derbyshire, enjoying the hills and rivers tumbling in little waterfalls along the way. 

Sometimes our souls just need to enjoy sitting under the whispering leaves of the trees, taking in the peace and quiet of a little village with a view to take your breath away. We even saw a mummy duck with eight little ducklings being whisked merrily down the river by the strong current, bobbing up and down like little corks as they floated away. It was so funny to watch.😊

It’s good to recognise that everything good comes from our generous God and it’s all the more precious when I think back to only last May when I couldn’t go out and enjoy anything at all as I was too poorly to do it. But praise God He healed me and I’m so incredibly grateful and thankful for all His mercies.

I had so many tests but they couldn’t find a cause. There were nearly 10 months when I could hardly function or go anywhere but we stood on the healing promises and then it suddenly changed and the Lord restored my health. 

I wouldn’t normally mention any of that it was just to remind us He is the God of the turn around and when He does it, it makes you doubly thankful for even the smallest things you take so for granted in the normal course of a day.

Can I encourage you today, if things are tough at the minute, and you maybe can’t do what you would like to be doing for some reason, maybe it’s health issues or other things have ganged up against you, keep believing God’s promises, remember that your circumstances are subject to change just like mine were last year. 

Our God wants us to  believe Him for the breakthrough to come at the right time, to know He still has good plans to bless your heart. So don’t despair, never lose heart. God is always working behind the scenes on your behalf just like He was for me. 😊

Our verse talks about abounding in hope, and another translation says be bubbling over with expectation. So don’t let the enemy steal your joy but always have great expectations of the good things the Lord still has to come. We thank You for them Lord. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

MOMENT BY MOMENT

Matthew 6:34 So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.

I wonder if you woke up with a smile this morning or did you wake up looking a bit glum like this dog, possibly because you’re thinking about a negative report you’ve had, or of all the things you have to do at work, or cleaning the house or car, or even dreaded paperwork! When we look ahead, some things can seem daunting can’t they, but if we take them little by little, moment by moment, they’re much more doable.

We can apply that principle to everything in life. We are all given new mercies every single morning (Lamentations 3:23) and God’s overflowing grace to take one day at a time, just like the manna was given every morning to the Israelites in the desert. 

We tend to look ahead though and find ourselves worrying about things that may or may not happen. We’d quite like the grace for the whole month or the whole year but God only gives us the grace we need for the moment we’re in.😊 

He wants us to enjoy today without having to worry about tomorrow because He’s already there taking care of it, providing the grace for it when it comes!

Perhaps we forget we have the grace He gives us when we wake up each morning, or even forget to use it? Do we catch ourselves busy trying to do everything in our own strength, because we forgot to access God’s grace to do it?

God never designed us to handle more than one day at a time and it’s all He expects us to deal with. When we opened our eyes this morning we were given a clean slate, a day with God in it with us. He gave us His Holy Spirit to help us with each moment, but again, if we don’t recognise and ask for His help and wisdom, it’s like the difference between having a vacuum cleaner in the cupboard but insisting on using a dustpan and brush - much harder!

God has equipped us and anointed us with everything we need for each day so let’s live it with His Holy Spirit, and ask Him to help us always find the joy in it, moment by moment.😊 Amen.

Photo by Rakesh Shetty on Unsplash

A HUNGRY MONSTER

Psalm 34:4 I prayed to the Lord, and he answered me. He freed me from all my fears. v.6 In my desperation I prayed, and the Lord listened; he saved me from all my troubles. 

When you were a small child do you remember being afraid there was a monster under the bed when the lights went out, or not letting your hand dangle outside the covers in case the monster came and grabbed it?🤣

We all have to deal with fear in our lives and God knows that. I read that the command to not be afraid is said more often than any other command in the bible! So God must have given us the answer or He’d be unfair telling us not to do it.

1 John 4:18 John tells us God’s perfect love drives out fear and the more we believe and declare God loves us and is looking after us, the more we’ll overcome our fears because our faith is in Him. 

When we’re afraid it’s also an opportunity for us to use our faith. Fear and faith are spiritual forces and though we can’t see either of them we know whatever we feed is going to grow and become stronger. Fear is like a hungry monster and it’s our responsibility to not feed it anything that will make it grow bigger!

Instead we can learn to go from fearing things to faithing them. Are we doing anything to feed our faith just now to counter the fears? When fear attacks, let’s fight back with the promises of God. My God is restoring health to me, my God is providing all I need, my God is holding me steady and protecting me wherever I go, God has good plans for my life. God loves me.😊

Even if things don’t go the way we wanted we know we have Almighty God on our side to bring us through and out the other side. We still have His promise He’ll turn things around for our good, we know God is on our side fighting our battles for us. Let’s declare those things and shout our fears down and out! Turn on the faith programme.😊

You may feel like nobody understands what it’s like to be so fearful, but Jesus knows exactly what it feels like. He faced the whipping post, crucifixion and Hell itself. He sweat blood over it, so He knows how you feel, but He overcame for you! He has won the victory over it all for us. He said to His disciples, Fear not, for I have overcome the world and all it can throw at you. 

God wants us to know we can run to Him any time because He does understand, give all our fears to Him, and allow His perfect love and peace to flood our soul in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Photo by Bernard Hermant on Unsplash

STOP THE THIEF!

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

Sometimes we can get confused about things if we don’t have enough information, but Jesus made it very clear when He told people it’s the devil who is doing the stealing, killing and destroying in their lives - not God! In fact Jesus said He Himself came because God wants us to have an abundant, overflowing life.😊 In other words it’s not the will of God that we lose or that we let our enemy steal everything we’ve got!

Samuel 30:8 (NKJV) So David inquired of the LORD, saying, “Shall I pursue this troop? Shall I overtake them?” And He answered him, “Pursue, for you shall surely overtake them and without fail recover all.” God hasn’t changed His mind and it is still His will that we go after our enemy not just passively let him walk all over us.

I expect at some point we’ve all felt sorry for ourselves about something when we know the enemy has stolen from us. Maybe he’s trying to kill and destroy our health or our finances or our relationships. Well Jesus told us it’s not God doing it, so it’s time to get back up, put our armour on, and stop him! Notice David had to do it. He didn’t ask God to do it for him.😊  So how do we stop him?

We put our armour on, we stand on the promises of God and don’t compromise when circumstances and experiences try to shout us down. God tells us to resist the devil (James 4:7) and tell him to take his hands off our lives, off our relationships, our health, whatever is under attack. We enforce God’s unchangeable, incorruptible Word on our enemy like Jesus did when He said “It is written…”.

We use the name and the blood of Jesus to pull down the enemy strongholds.We keep the Word of God in our mouths, we have the angels of heaven’s armies at our side, the power of the Holy Ghost inside us and His authority to use it.

Let’s stand up and be counted, to declare the victory of the cross, and stop the enemy from stealing from us and take our God given authority to resist the devil and tell him to flee in Jesus name. ✝️Amen.

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GOD’S TREASURE POUCH

1 Samuel 25:29 (NLT) Even when you are chased by those who seek to kill you, your life is safe in the care of the Lord your God, secure in his treasure pouch! But the lives of your enemies will disappear like stones shot from a sling!

We looked the other day at being kept safe and taking refuge under our Heavenly Father’s wings. Today we see David who was God’s chosen and anointed man, being told a similar thing but in a different way, and God is saying the same to us because we are also His chosen and anointed ones.

When we’re being threatened by the enemy in some way and even if our very life is under threat He says, ‘Your life is safe in the care of the Lord your God. You are secure in His treasure pouch!’ What a picture of protection and security, of being so special to God that He has us where He keeps His most precious possessions. The Good News Translation says, ‘…the Lord your God will keep you safe, as someone guards a precious treasure.’ I hope that blesses your heart like it did mine.

Scripture is full of how He looks after us, how He watches over us, preserving our going out and coming in. He tells us He has assigned angels to minister to us and for us. His word tells us we have a loving Father who knows when we open our eyes in the morning, who has counted the hairs on our head and His thoughts about us are more than the grains of sand on the seashore. He tells us our names are engraved on the palm of His hand, that He knows us intimately and cares about us with great affection and loves us deeply.

It’s good to remind ourselves about it all, especially if we’ve been having a rough time or just been needing some encouragement. 

So perhaps you’d like to join me and thank our God as our weekly routines begin again, that He’s keeping us safe in His treasure pouch and for giving us Jesus who makes all God’s blessings possible for each one of us.😊 Amen.

Photo by Privecstasy on Unsplash

WHO CAN COMPARE?

Psalm 89:6-8 For who in all of heaven can compare with the Lord? 

What mightiest angel is anything like the Lord? 

The highest angelic powers stand in awe of God. 

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

O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies! 

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

You are entirely faithful.

I wonder what we’d do if we had an angel suddenly appear in front of us? Maybe you have!😊 When it happened in Bible days the people seemed to be overawed and even trembled with fear because of their appearance, and perhaps their powerfulness was felt by them. Whether we’re actually privileged to see one or not scripture tells us that we all have at least one angel assigned to us to minister to us constantly (Hebrews 1:14). Scripture also tells us that one angel can wipe out 185,000 people at one time, that’s how much power they carry!(2 Kings 19:35)

And yet our verses today remind us that angels can’t even begin to compare to our God, that they, and all who are in heaven with them, stand in total awe of God Himself who is so far above them He is so majestic and so powerful and awe inspiring.

Maybe  it would help us if we could catch a glimpse of heaven so we could grasp something of the immensity and majesty of who God is. The apostle John was allowed a vision of it, and it’s mind boggling to know we shall actually stand before the throne of grace one day and see our Lord Jesus, the One who was nailed to a cross for our sake, face to face, but more likely on our knees before Him.

I’m so thankful though that the Psalmist rounds off verse 8 by talking about the faithfulness of God. He’s not for us one day, but the next He’s changed His mind! No this awe inspiring God, our own Heavenly Father, is for us today, and He’s for us tomorrow and on into eternity and He invites us into an up close intimate relationship where we can talk with Him night and day as a son or daughter. How wonderful is our God and what a privilege!😊

Let’s rejoice today that God’s faithfulness and His great love for us endure forever and there is absolutely nothing and no one who can compare with our glorious God. Praise His holy name. Amen.

Photo: Andika Christian on Unsplash

TUCKED IN TIGHT

Ruth 2:12 May the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge, reward you fully for what you have done.

I love that expression ‘under whose wings you have come to take refuge’. Can I ask whose wings you are taking refuge under and if it’s the Lord’s wings, are you tucked in tight?😊  We saw a beautiful swan the other day sitting on her huge nest and when she sailed off for a few minutes we saw at least two eggs she had been protecting under her wings but she soon let us know if we were coming too close!

Sometimes we can forget we have a refuge, a safe place, that His wings are covering us, and we find ourselves behaving as though we’re all on our own, as though God doesn’t care for us or protect us any more! Do we find ourselves getting frayed at the edges, stressed out over our circumstances? I know there are times I do! If so we’ve maybe forgotten we’re still sheltering under His wings, that God is still in control of our lives, or maybe we’ve wandered off and so we’re feeling vulnerable?

If that’s where you find yourself today just stand back a minute to see where you are and then declare the words of Psalm 91 out loud over yourself and come back under His wings, your place of safety. Don’t forget we have to declare it, not  just think it or read it!😊

1 

Psalm 91:1-4 (NLT) Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. This I declare about the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him. For he will rescue you from every trap and protect you from deadly disease. He will cover you with his feathers. He will shelter you with his wings. His faithful promises are your armour and protection. 

Then just in case you still feel a bit wobbly remind yourself of Hebrews 13:5 …For God has said, “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you. v6. So we can say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me?

Well my lovely readers I hope this gentle reminder has nudged you to make sure you’re keeping well tucked in under His powerful wings and know His peace and loving care of you and for you will never cease. Amen.

Have a blessed weekend.x😊

Photo by Vincent Keiman on Unsplash

OUR OWN ABBA FATHER

1 John 3:1 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!…

I wonder how you see God? Do you think of Him sternly watching you, or see Him as a bit far away, or do you know Him as your close loving Father? I believe God wants to encourage us all to see His heart is to lovingly bless us and do us good, to see Him the way scripture describes Him as the one who wants to lavish His love on His much loved children.

I was out enjoying the cherry blossom the other day and took a photo looking up into the beautiful flowers. There were so many just hanging over my head like they wanted to pour themselves out all over me, and shower me with petals. Fanciful I know, but it made me think of how God wants to pour His blessings out into our lives.😊

He wants us to have such a sense of His love and care, of His abundance of grace and favour that we actually lift our heads up to Him to expect it from Him, not because we deserve it but just because we belong to Him and He is our loving Father. (Isaiah 30:18)

In Galations 4:6 Paul used the word Abba when he said God has sent His Spirit into our hearts, crying out, ‘Abba, Father.’ Abba was, and still is, the word used in Israel by young children for "papa" or "daddy" and it shows a close intimate relationship with our Father but it’s also a term of respect and obedience. Jesus called out to His Abba, Father in the Garden of Gethsemane. (Mark 14:36)

Sometimes we see a child running to his daddy calling “Daddy, daddy” as he flings himself into his loving arms. God was telling us that we can come to Him with the same sense of Him being our Abba, our Daddy and run into His outstretched arms knowing He loves us.😊 His word says we are His chosen ones, the apple of His eye, His set apart, highly favoured ones, His own sons and daughters.

Romans 8:15 …Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.”

So let’s lift our heads up to our loving Abba Father, our Heavenly Daddy today and run into His loving arms and receive His love, and allow Him to be good to us so we can then go out and be good to others.😊Amen.

NEVER LEFT OUT

John 15:16 You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name.

Do you remember in school standing in line waiting to be picked for the sports team? Well you may have been one of the popular ones and been chosen right away but some of us, who weren’t very athletic, were often left till the end, feeling left out as though we really weren’t wanted!

David experienced the same thing. When Samuel came to Jesse’s house to anoint one of his sons to be king, he looked at the oldest who was a fine figure of a man but God said ‘Not him’. Samuel went through seven of the sons that way and then asked Jesse if he had any more sons and was told he had one more but he really didn’t count and was out in the fields anyway. Basically David was left out, his name was not in the hat! Even his dad didn’t think he’d amount to anything!

We read how God doesn’t look at the outward appearance but he looks at the heart (1 Samuel 16:7) and what he saw in David was what God wanted, regardless of how inadequate his own father thought he was or what he looked like! 

Maybe you’ve felt left out sometimes, as though you didn’t matter, or weren’t wanted, or it feels like it’s always somebody else who’s being picked. Well can I tell you God has picked you and chosen you especially and He has some great plans for you.😊 God is looking at your heart not your outward appearance and if you’ve asked Jesus into your life as Lord and Saviour then you are definitely not left out but you have been brought into God’s family and seated in the place of honour in Jesus at the right hand of the Father on His throne! 

He has chosen and appointed you. You are a much needed part of God’s team where we’re all pulling together, and no matter what job He has for you, you are majorly important to God and His family.

 

So don’t ever feel left out again but loved and accepted by the One who really matters - by God Himself. Amen.

Photo by Hannah Busing on Unsplash

CHAMPIONS OUT OF FAILURES

1 John 1:9 But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. 

I was listening to someone’s testimony who had heard the call of God as a young boy but he ran away from the Lord till he was 22 when God spoke to him again through a preacher. He asked the Lord to forgive him and told the Lord if He still wanted him He could have him but he wanted God to know He would be getting a failure! Inside he heard God say, “Don’t worry about it son, I’m a Master at making champions out of failures” and God did indeed make him into one of His great champions before he went home to be with the Lord last week after 55 years of ministry.😊

I wonder if you sometimes feel like you’ve been a failure in some way, or if you think you’ve let down God or others in your life, or maybe let yourself down? If so, can I encourage you because God is still saying the same thing today, “I’m a Master at making champions out of people who fail.” 

Our God is loving and merciful and His heart is still to love and forgive us.😊 God can turn our mistakes or messes into a wonderful message and He can give us beauty for ashes. He did it my life many years ago and He can do it in yours. I was in a really bad way at the age of 26. We had a beautiful new baby but I was backslidden and so seriously depressed I could hardly function. I felt like I was falling apart at the seams and couldn’t seem to think straight, had lost all my confidence, and I was just messed up. So I fell to my knees one day and asked God to forgive me and help me, and He did and He has been ever since. Thank You Lord!

Maybe you keep thinking you’ve failed in some way, or you feel like you’ve made a mess of things, or you don’t know where to turn, or what to do, and you think no one can help you. If so, can I invite you today to turn to Jesus, the One who loved us so much He died to take the punishment for all our sins at the Cross and offers us His righteousness, a clean slate, a new beginning instead. 

Whether you’re backslidden, or you’ve never asked Jesus into your life before, can I encourage you today to do as I did and ask Him to forgive you and take your life, and turn it around for good, to make you into a champion for Him and He will, because He loves you and He wants you in His family.❤️

Photo: Daniel Joshua on Unsplash

NOTHING CAN HINDER THE LORD

1 Samuel 14:6 …Jonathan said to his armour bearer, “Perhaps the Lord will help us for nothing can hinder the Lord. He can win a battle whether he has many warriors or only a few!

In 1 Samuel 13:5 we read how the Philistines had mustered a vast army, as many warriors as the grains of sand on the seashore. In v.15 Saul counted his men and he only had 600 soldiers, and Saul and Jonathan were the only ones who had a sword and a spear! You could say it looked like they didn’t stand a chance and the odds were majorly stacked against them! But read on, it gets better.😊

Jonathan inspired his armour bearer to believe their God could rescue and deliver them despite their lack of resources or the fact their men were found hiding away in caves and holes.(v.6) They had no back up in the natural but they began the work God was about to do. Somebody had to believe to start somewhere!

As it unfolds we find God caused total confusion in the enemy’s camp and also sent an earthquake. God can do what no one else can do and it only took one man to take the initiative of faith to release the power of God into the situation so their vast enemy army was defeated.

Those two men didn’t even have the power of the Holy Spirit inside them, but God was with them. How much more can we do, who do have the Holy Spirit and His power inside us? If God be for us, who can stand against us? No one!

So if it looks like the odds are stacked against you at the minute or you feel like you have no back up, take courage and take a leaf from Jonathan’s book and step out in faith anyway, knowing that what you don’t have won’t hinder God’s plan. Remember the God factor!

You do have the Lord and His angels backing you up and He’s just waiting for someone to take Him at His word, do what they can do, and believe He’ll step in and do what they can’t, and make things happen. 

Take a step of faith!😊

Photo by Prince Akachi on Unsplash

THE GOD FACTOR

Psalm 121:1-2  (NKJV) I will lift up my eyes to the hills - From whence comes my help? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

I expect at different times we’ve all had thoughts that make us feel bent over, when everything just seems to be trying to press us down. It’s often when we have an attack of the ‘lacks’. It might be lack of health or money, lack of education or opportunity, lack of love or something else, but there is a spirit of lack that has infiltrated our minds. It says “You can’t, because you lack …….”

But Jesus said we get what we believe for and if we think God is only capable of a low level of supply then that is all we’ll be able to receive. But we can go to the exceedingly, above and beyond level if we’ll choose to believe for it.😊 Our God is a big God and He wants us to break free from the spirit of lack and small thinking, so we can receive what He wants us to have.

Let’s not forget the God factor! We may know all the reasons why we can’t do something: we haven’t got the confidence, don’t have the qualifications or the influence or the contacts or the finance. Maybe not, but we do have the God who is for us and not against us. We do have the God who is more than enough, the God of overflow who goes before us, the God who splits oceans, who brings water out of a rock, and puts money in a fish’s mouth!

We have the God who only had to speak and the world came into existence. As we believe and speak His Word in faith into our own lives, His Word, which is alive and powerful, will recreate our world of difficulty or lack into a world of possibility and provision in whatever we choose to believe Him for. (Mark 11:23-24 NKJV)

As we begin this new week let’s shake off the spirit of lack, and dare to believe God to supply us with all our needs, not just some, according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Let’s lift up our eyes, not to the hills, but to the Lord and say, ‘The Lord is my Shepherd and I shall not lack.’ (Psalm 23:1 NKJV)

I pray we will all have a 2 Corinthians 9:8 week…. And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others. Amen.

Have a blessed week.😊x

Photo by Claudio Testa on Unsplash

OUR VAST GOD!

Psalm 36:5-7 Your unfailing love, O Lord, is as vast as the heavens; 

your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds. 

Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the ocean depths. 

You care for people and animals alike, O Lord. How precious is your unfailing love, O God! 

All humanity finds shelter in the shadow of your wings.

Wow!  When we read all the extravagant words the Psalmist uses in this one psalm to describe our God’s attributes, it’s wonderful. His love is unfailing, He is faithful, righteous, just, caring. Then in v.9 For you are the fountain of life, the light by which we see. In other words He is the source of our whole lives, the One who holds the inspiration and provision for our never ending future in Him. He is the One whose wings are covering and protecting our every breathing moment. 

Our God is more wonderful than we can ever begin to imagine but sometimes we forget in the midst of the humdrumness of our lives, or the battle we’re going through from one day to another! So the next time you’re thinking what an ordinary day you’re having, or how difficult your circumstances are, or how deep your pit is, may I encourage you to get these verses out and have another read and allow the Spirit of God to give you hope.😊

Whatever our minds and eyes have been fixed on this past week, let’s not forget the Holy Spirit tells us in Hebrews to fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. He’s also the Creator of all we see and all we don’t see, the One who upholds all things by the word of His power, including you and me. 

So if you can still open your eyes and your pulse is still beating, let’s praise our awesome God today and give Him all the glory due His wonderful name and thank Him for loving us, calling us and choosing us to belong to Him, and all because of Jesus. Thank You Lord. Amen.😊

THE SMALL THINGS

Zechariah 4:10 For who has despised the day of small things?

Have you ever noticed how something small can bring a lot of pleasure?

 Sometimes an unexpected little gift can make people smile just as much as a big one. I make really small teddy bears and give them away here and there and they often have the same reaction - a big smile - whether it’s for a child or for a grown up who seem to like them too. Maybe it’s because there’s a bit of a kid in all of us, so here are two of a new design I’m trying out.😊

God designed the little things just like He designed the big ones and He tells us not to despise the day of small things, of small beginnings. God is interested in all the small details of our lives as well as the big events. Like when Jesus noticed the widow who gave what she had, a penny, like when we make some progress in controlling our temper, or being more patient, God notices because it means our fruit is growing and He’s pleased.

To despise something means to undervalue it and sometimes we even do that with our own efforts, or someone else might have undervalued us. Maybe you’ve had an idea, or started a project, or a business, or you’ve started training in some way, or maybe you’ve started reading the bible or praying more and you think you’ve made such small progress. Well God says don’t undervalue where you’re at with it all, don’t despise your small beginnings. He will make it flourish.😊

I’ve had to do that with my Blog. I started with a handful of kind people reading it and so often I nearly gave up but gradually God has been increasing it, little by little. Listen to what He says to each one of us … Job 8 :7 (NKJV) Though your beginning was small, Yet your latter end would increase abundantly. Here’s a different translation saying the same thing….Job 8:7 (NLT) And though you started with little, you will end with much.

Have you started something with little or want to start something but think you don’t have enough of whatever you need? If so, can I encourage you, no matter what path you have started on, and even if you see no immediate progress, don’t ever give up. Keep taking another step. Don’t undervalue where you’re at right now but know that God is working behind the scenes bringing His promises to pass and working His purposes out as we stay in faith. 

Have a very blessed weekend.x

RIVERS OF LIFE GIVING WATER

1 Peter 3:4 (NKJV) rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.

I have a lovely friend who is in her nineties and she is such a blessing just because of who she is. It’s the way she draws alongside and her spirit just blesses me. She has a quiet and gentle spirit and she exudes the love of God and always makes a point of giving me a hug and makes me feel accepted. She does what our Heavenly Father does to each one of us.😊

Some people you spend time with give you a sense of the presence of Jesus, don’t they, even though they may not know it and we can do the same. Acts 4:13…And they realised that they had been with Jesus. What a wonderful thing to have someone say about you! 

I think God gives us people like that to show us we don’t always have to be doing something big for God in order to be precious in His sight. God makes us beautiful, whether we have spots or wrinkles or not, because of the beauty of the spirit on the inside of us. It will show on our faces when we’ve been spending time with Jesus because we’ll reflect Him, and we can all do that.😊

Christianity isn’t about our performance but it’s all about our relationship with God our Father, with the Lord Jesus and having fellowship with His Holy Spirit. It’s about opening ourselves up to Him, leaning our whole personality on Him and allowing His joy and peace to flood our souls so it can pour out to others, however God wants it to.

John 7:37-38 … “Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’” Jesus said He gives us life giving water and that rivers of life would flow out from our innermost being which we all want in our lives. We can either be like a car filled up with petrol and ready to go, or one that’s running low. In other words we need to be constantly being refilled with His Holy Spirit and His life giving water. When we give out to others all the time, or we’ve been discouraged or we’ve not been spending as much time with the Lord we can become a bit dry. But the good news is we can come to God’s throne 24/7 to receive His fresh grace, fresh joy, fresh mercy, fresh rivers of life we need.  

So just remember you’re becoming more beautiful every day and if your car has been running a bit low, then now is a good time to draw close to Jesus. Ask Him to fill you up again and go and show His love to someone today.😊

Photo by Ignacio Aguilar on Unsplash 

BREAKING OUT OF THE BOX

Isaiah 55:8-9 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Our God is an ‘out of the box’ God and He wants us to be willing to get out of our box and think like He does! In fact He has given us the mind of Christ and the Holy Spirit so we can do it. There’s more than one way to do things but are we willing to think He may have new ways or avenues for us to pursue?

Our upbringing, culture, our traditions, our previous experience or lack of funds, a host of different things, can all tend to box us in or tell us we can’t do it or we don’t qualify, but God’s word tells us something quite different.😊

God says He has qualified us to be sons and daughters of the King of Kings because of Jesus and there is no higher privilege or qualification.😊 He has said we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us; not some things, or only those things we were trained to do, but all things. God often calls us to do things beyond our own capabilities so we have to rely on Christ for it all.

He wants us to think healing where there’s sickness, prosperity where there’s lack, forgiveness where there’s offence, love where there’s prejudice, blessing our enemies when we want to do the opposite!

Maybe you’ve been stuck ‘in the box’ lately, feeling boxed in, thinking nothing good ever happens to you, or you never get any good breaks. Well God reminds us that the righteous man is blessed, which is you and me if Jesus is our Saviour - God has a way of blessing us going out and blessing us coming in. His favour surrounds us like a shield but all those promises are for us to take by faith. We have to believe for them and declare them over our own lives to activate them.😊 

It’s time to come out of our boxes of ‘can’t do it’, ‘it’ll never happen to me’, and come up higher to believe for what God has planned for us, for something far better than we ever imagined. Believe for signs and wonders and miracles, days of fulfilment and joy in His kingdom. Yes, we are in this world, but we are not of it, we belong to the One who owns it all and all things are possible with Him. Praise God.

Photo: Ante Hammersmith on Unsplash

HEAR GOD’S LOVE FOR YOU

Psalm 143:8 (NLT) Let me hear of your unfailing love each morning, for I am trusting you. Show me where to walk, for I give myself to you.

I wonder what you hear first thing each morning? What do you want to hear? Is it the radio, the television going on about something in current affairs, children chattering, traffic noise, or nothing at all? Maybe you were like me this morning and you were battling the enemy’s negative thoughts? If so, I invite you to read on.😊

Psalmist David wanted to hear one specific thing each morning and it was to hear of God’s unfailing love for him.

What a great way to start our day because if we hear that first, then we shall be able to deal with all the rest of the day and we’ll know we’re held safely in His loving hands and nothing shall by any means harm us. (Luke 10:19)

Even if  we’re in the middle of a struggle or a storm, if we remember God’s unfailing love for us, we can relax and know in the big picture He will make all things work out for our good because we’re called by Him and we know He loves us with a love that knows no end. 

John 3:16 tells us God so loved the world that He gave us Jesus. Then John makes it personal when he said 1 John 4:16 We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, … John reminds us that God is love, that at the very core of His being God loves each one of us. I pray you’re hearing His love for you, even as you read this blog.

When the enemy hits us with negative thoughts we can hear Jesus say, “Let not your heart be troubled, let me give you my peace” and we can still give thanks to the One who gave it all because of His great love for us. 

We can know that every morning we open our eyes, when we might not want to go to work, or might not even want to get up at all, God was waiting for us to wake up to tell us that He still loves us, He always will and His good plans are all in place waiting for us to walk into them.❤️ And if we’ve had a setback God will use it as a setup for something better. 😊

Let’s join David and give ourselves afresh to God today, hear Him tell us He loves us and thank Him for it, and ask Him to show us where to walk, what to do, and how to do it, every day. Amen.

FROM FAITH TO FAITH

Romans 1:17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.”

I’m sure we’ve all noticed how it’s never God’s will for us to stay as we are. He wants us to grow from faith to faith and from glory to glory. Sometimes we get ‘comfortable’ in our Christianity, in our faith walk, but God wants to take all of us to new heights in Him. 

My question to all of us is, “If we feel we’re in the spiritual doldrums or in a bit of a rut, do we want to get out of it and let God move us from the level of faith we’re at, to where He wants us to be?”😊 The trouble with standing still is, we can tend to stagnate because we lose momentum. 

God is on the move and He wants to take us with Him into all He has planned. Oral Roberts had a powerful world wide healing ministry from the 1940s to 2009 and Jesus told him that all the miracles, signs and wonders he had seen in those days were nothing compared to what God is going to do and He wants us to be part of it!😊

Jesus asked this question Luke 18:8 …But when the son of Man returns, how many will he find on the earth who have faith? Jesus is looking for people of faith who will believe His promises and act on them. He wants us fired up, ready to be on call when He wants us, like a doctor on call. He wants us refired not retired, regardless of our age or what stage we’re at.

I want to inspire us all today to be part of what God has planned and not miss what He’s doing.😊 It doesn’t matter how young or old or how inadequate we feel we are. Let’s stir up our faith and go from the faith we have got, to greater faith so we can go from glory to glory. 

Lord stir each one of us up, relight our fire, and give us a renewed passion for Your kingdom. Help us to see into the spirit realm and to hear Your voice like never before. God have mercy on our nation, move on the hearts of our people, soften their hearts and take the blinkers off their eyes so they can see Jesus, and off our eyes and ears too so we can go from faith to faith and glory to glory, and be and do what You want us to be and do. In Jesus name. Amen.

Photo by Eric Masur on Unsplash