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

SEEING THE UNSEEN

2 Kings 6:16-17 “Don’t be afraid!” Elisha told him. “For there are more on our side than on theirs!” Then Elisha prayed, “O Lord, open his eyes and let him see!”

Yesterday we prayed that God would open our eyes and let us see into the unseen realm. There are times when we may feel outnumbered by our problems, that they are overwhelming, but God says we’re not outnumbered. It’s our enemy that is outnumbered because we have Almighty God on our side. With God we are always in the majority! 

Like Elisha if we see into the unseen realm we will see whatever is surrounding us, whether it’s a disease or bad doctor’s report, or circumstances beyond our control, all those things are also surrounded, but they are surrounded by the force of Almighty God and Heaven’s Armies and He is always for us, protecting us.😊

2 Corinthians 4:18 The things we see are temporary, but the things that we can’t see are eternal. God reminds us again if we can see what’s troubling us, then it’s subject to change, it’s temporary, which gives us great encouragement. Whatever is pressing in on us, is about to change, it’s not written in stone. What we do have is something written in the blood of Jesus and that is His forgiveness, His promise of deliverance and rescue, of a future and hope, His promise of healing and wholeness and restoration.

God said if you believe then all things are possible. He didn’t tell us to figure it all out in order for it to work!😊 God is going before us, giving us victory over our circumstances, now our part is to believe it. It may look impossible to our natural eyes but let’s ask God to keep opening our spiritual eyes, to see what He sees. 

God is looking for someone to believe His word. Will we be that person for Him, to believe for the impossible because we have an unlimited, all powerful God? Jesus told Jairus “Only believe!” 

As we step into our week, instead of doubting, let’s practice believing and release God’s saving grace into whatever situation needs changing. Instead of feeling grumpy let’s be thankful and simply ask God for what is in our hearts, nothing is too hard for Him.😊

Lord we thank You this is a blessed week. We believe for Your favour, we believe Your promises are true, that You are for us, You love us and want the best for us. We believe You are surrounding and protecting us in every circumstance. In Jesus mighty name. Amen.

Photo by Edryc James P. Binoya on Unsplash

OPEN OUR EYES LORD

 Isaiah 11:2

And the Spirit of the Lord will rest on him-

the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,

The Spirit of counsel and might, 

the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.

As we read those familiar words they’re describing the Lord Jesus who Isaiah was prophesying about and how He would be filled with the Holy Spirit when He set foot on the earth. Then I remembered that we are now joint heirs with the Risen Lord Jesus, (Romans 8:16-17) that we are one Spirit with Him (1 Cor. 6:17) and that His Holy Spirit has been given to us who believe in Jesus. His Spirit has been infused into us!

So when you read those verses again can they not also refer to us because, as Jesus is, so are we in this world.(1 John 4:17 NKJV) What an inspiring thought! 

We have the same Holy Spirit of wisdom and understanding in us! We don’t have a different Holy Spirit, we have the same Spirit of counsel and might, the same Spirt of knowledge and fear of the Lord. The same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead lives in us! (Romans 8:11)

In Ephesians 1:16 Paul prays that God would open our eyes, that He would give us insight into what we have already been given. He prays in verse 19 that we will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe Him, and we can be praying those same prayers.😊

God wants us to know what we have and He wants us to believe it and walk in it. He tells us so clearly in His word, now we can do our part and let it sink into our thinking so we know who we really are in Him and what we have.

And if you have a few minutes have a read of Revelation 1:4-8 to remind you who you are one Spirit with.😊

Let’s spend some time with the Lord today and let Him open up our spiritual eyes and ears and soften our hearts as we worship Him to expand our understanding, that the Holy Spirit is not only on us but He is actually in us, and all His wisdom, counsel, might and understanding are available to us too. Thank You Lord. In Jesus name. Amen.

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

A WOW MOMENT!

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

We’ve been away for several days this week visiting family and friends which was lovely and the Lord blessed us with some good weather which has been a miracle in itself, and we were so thankful for it.

You may remember earlier this week on April 15th, the Blog was about walking into favour and I said, “You can walk by faith expecting His favour to surround you like a shield, that He is going to cause people to be good to you.” Well, I have to share what happened after I wrote that so God gets all the glory.😊

We were visiting our friend who had been clearing out the house of a mutual friend who had sadly passed away several weeks ago. She discovered loads of pairs of shoes, most of which were new but they were a small size, so they wouldn’t fit many people. However, she knew I have small feet so she kindly gave them all to me! Boxes and boxes of them!

I was absolutely thrilled as finding shoes to fit my feet can be difficult and I had just looked for some recently with no success. The Lord has now just given me several pairs of top quality new shoes and boots I didn’t even have to search for! It was a ‘wow’ moment as there were lots of pairs, not just one or two! Isn’t that amazing? He is an over the top, exceedingly abundant God. He did as He said and caused someone to be good to me and remember, that word was for all of us.😊 Thank You Lord!

So I just wanted to encourage everyone to keep believing for the favour of God in your lives as well, as God does amazing things and just wants to bless you too. I’ve already been able to give a pair of the boots to someone else with small feet and there may be others I can give as well, so it will be a favour passed on. We’re blessed to be a blessing aren’t we, and I’ve never been able to bless someone with beautiful leather boots before!

It’s wonderful to know the Lord has stored up lovely blessings for each one of us, and when they come they really bowl us over! I pray favour filled ‘wow’ God moments in your lives too, whoever and wherever you are. God is so good to us all the time! And when it happens to you please share your favour story in the Comments, so we can rejoice with you, and God receives the glory.😊

Don’t doubt and do without. Be a believer and a receiver in Jesus Name and have a blessed weekend.x😊

Photo: Verity Sanders on Unsplash

APPROVED BY GOD

Ephesians 1:6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.

I expect we’ve all noticed there are some people we spend time with who really build us up and encourage us. They seem to affirm who we are in God, and help us see we have some use in God’s kingdom and in His world. Then there are the ones who don’t want to see the good in us, or think we don’t amount to much so they put us down or criticise us.

John 7:5 For even his brothers didn’t believe in him.  Even Jesus had that trouble with His own family! We can’t always have the approval of our loved ones or friends, or people we work with, but if we’ve asked Jesus into our hearts we have the seal of approval of our God who loves us. Thank You Lord.😊

The truth is, God sees us as righteous, as His much loved sons and daughters and is not condemning us now we are in Christ. He tells us He has accepted us in His beloved Son the Lord Jesus. That word ‘accepted’ is the same word the angel said to Mary when He told her she was highly favoured and would give birth to Jesus.

So what are we giving birth to? Are we birthing confidence in others or disapproval? Are we birthing encouragement so they know they’re precious in God’s sight, that He loves them dearly? Or have we been pointing the finger, condemning and criticising? If we’ve done the latter, the good news is we can ask God to forgive us and change us.😊 

If we are in God’s kingdom then we can know we are being changed by God all the time to be more like Jesus. Scripture says we’re being changed from one degree of glory to another so we won’t be the same as we were even last year, never mind 20 years ago, if we’re seeking after and staying close to Him.

So remember, you are special to God and He approves of you because He has placed you in Jesus. 

We are such blessed people, so let’s go out today and be a blessing, and lift up everyone we meet in whatever way we can to bring out the best in them, so we leave them encouraged. Amen.

Photo by Olga Vilkha 🇺🇦 on Unsplash

GET RID OF THE CATERPILLARS!

John 14:1 “Do not be worried and upset,” Jesus told them,….

When I returned from holiday, one of my plants had lost its lovely yellow flowers. Something had eaten them all away so I brought it indoors to sort it out. I left it for several hours and when I returned there was a huge caterpillar just sitting on the edge of the pot! I had found the culprit which had been brought out by the heat in the house. He was exposed so I was able to get rid of it!

It’s the same in our own lives when we’re merrily going along and then a situation crops up when we find ourselves feeling stressed by what’s happening. We were driving home on the motorway and Chris missed a turning and we suddenly found ourselves driving miles in the wrong direction! I was reading the map looking for a route to take us back in the right direction and I suddenly found myself getting in a bit of a tizzy! Have you ever had that happen to you? 

What was happening? I found I had a caterpillar in my life which had been exposed by the heat of the situation! Things had suddenly happened where I wasn’t in control anymore and we were in unknown territory. Chris wasn’t bothered in the slightest and knew he’d find another way but it had the opposite effect on me.

We’re all different and we discover things about ourselves that the Lord wants us to deal with so the caterpillar is removed! I need to learn to go with the flow and be flexible and not get anxious when things go wrong but trust the Lord to help us. In actual fact He did do just that, and we found ourselves on a very pretty route in an unknown area which was beautiful and ended up having a lovely picnic somewhere new. God turned it round for good.😊

The next time you find a caterpillar of some kind suddenly rearing its head in your life, eating away at your peace, maybe making you anxious, ask the Lord to show you what’s at the root of it, and ask for His help in getting rid of it so you don’t let it take over. We need to get rid of the caterpillars!😊

Photo by Krysten Merriman on Unsplash

DEALING WITH CHANGE

Isaiah 41:10 Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.

Life seems to change all around us from one day to the next and it can be very unsettling and even tempt us to feel anxious, but God keeps reminding us He is still our God who never changes, He loves us and He will hold us steady, no matter what.

It can be hard to see things change when we want to hold on to what’s familiar, and feel safe within its confines, but some change is positive. I heard of a council that wanted to pull down slum housing in order for people to have better homes. Most people were delighted but there were still those who didn’t want the change! They preferred to stick with the way things were because it was all they’d known.

Sometimes God ‘stirs our nest’ where He allows things to become uncomfortable in different parts of our lives in order for us to be stretched and moved forward, especially when we’re stuck in a rut. We can either dig our heels in and resist His plan or we can embrace the changes that He wants and move with Him.😊

If God is doing that in our lives, He doesn’t want us to be anxious, but to know His plans are to give us a future and a hope. Maybe we struggle to see the positive side of change but with God’s help, if we’ll trust Him, He will always work things out for our good and given time, will be better than we can ever imagine.

Even if change seems daunting we can remember that God is giving us His grace for each and every day, He is right there beside us every moment of the process and He has promised to help us and hold us. At no point will He leave us alone, or abandon us. As scripture says He will be holding our hand so we won’t stumble and fall.

So no matter what changes are coming, we can put our hand in the hand of the One who upholds all things, and continue taking those steps of faith, knowing He will get us to where He wants us to be.😊

Lord, we ask You to help us have the right attitude to change and not be anxious or afraid, but to even be excited about it. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Isaiah 41:13 For I hold you by your right hand - I, the Lord your God. And I say to you, “Don’t be afraid, for I am here to help you.

Photo by Ross Findon on Unsplash

WHEN WE NEED HELP

Psalm 46:1 God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble.

I remember when I had my first baby I struggled so much but one kind lady stepped in to help when I was so worn out. Exhaustion is not something we should ignore. It’s the body’s way of saying it needs help and we need to allow people in, to do just that, to help us. We don’t need to feel guilty about it, because God doesn’t want us to get so tired we can hardly function.

God says He is a very present help in time of trouble, but one of the ways He helps us is by sending other people to come alongside us to give practical help. I have a young friend who has recently had twin boys and she has been so exhausted because it has been relentless. She told her mum how she felt such a failure having to ask for help until she went to a twins group and discovered all the mums felt the same way, so she didn’t feel so bad about it.😊

At the other end of life I also had an elderly friend who absolutely refused any help in caring for her sick husband because she loved him, but she destroyed her own health in the process. Family offered to get her help but she stubbornly wouldn’t hear of it and she couldn’t see that God was offering her help and He didn’t want her to literally wear herself out, as she was doing.

Whether it’s babies, or elderly, or sick loved ones, or any other reason, if you’re exhausted through looking after others, or because of work, and you feel like curling up in a ball like my koala picture, this is a gentle nudge to please ask for help and don’t beat yourself up about it, it’s the wise thing to do. 

Exodus 18:18 You’re going to wear yourself out. This job is too heavy a burden for you to handle all by yourself. Moses’ father in law Jethro saw Moses doing everything and realised he was half killing himself by doing it all on his own so he told Moses to appoint others to help him, and he wisely listened and did what he was advised. So bear Moses in mind and remember there’s nothing wrong with admitting we’re worn out and need help. No one should expect us to be Superman or Wonder Woman!😊

Remember God actually wants to meet the needs of each one of us, so let’s allow Him to do it however He wants to, and not think we know better than He does, but be willing to accept His help however it comes.😊

Photo by Cris Saur on Unsplash

WALK INTO FAVOUR

Psalm 145:8-9 The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger and great in mercy. The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works.

As we get back into whatever is planned for this week we can be so encouraged today to know that our God is gracious, which means He wants to show us His favour! Psalm 5:12(NKJV) and Psalm 30:5 promise us His favour surrounds us like a shield, that His favour lasts a lifetime! What a note to start our day on.😊 I hope it encourages you like it does me.

It means that wherever we go and whoever we meet we can know the Lord has gone ahead of us and prepared His favour to shine down on us. We have the advantage because we’re one of His children, we have the favour of the King of Kings, who is our Father, which means we are a privileged people! All God’s promises are for believers in the Lord Jesus, so I want to believe, don’t you?  

A few days ago we were away in a very busy seaside town and we wanted to park right beside the sea but the car park was packed out. As we drove round and round I said out loud we had the favour of God and thanked the Lord for a space. Miraculously a car pulled out just where we wanted to be and God gave us a space with the most amazing view which was breathtaking, and we were so thankful for it. It made our day!😊

Next time you feel downtrodden, or less than, or as though you never have any good breaks, just remind yourself of who your God is, and who you are in Him. Remember our favour promises and by faith declare the Lord is being gracious to you today and that He is giving you the breakthroughs you need. Speak His favour over your life each day, believe what He has declared, because Jesus said we can have what we believe for. 

You can walk by faith expecting His favour to surround you like a shield, that He is going to cause people to be good to you.😊

As we agree with God’s word, we can prophecy into our own lives, and say with confidence, “Thank You Lord for Your overflowing grace and goodness to me, that You are surrounding me with Your favour. In Jesus’ Name Amen.”

PRAISE HIS NAME FOREVER

Psalm 145:1-3 

I will exalt you, my God and King, and praise your name forever and ever. 

I will praise you every day; yes, I will praise you forever. 

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

No one can measure his greatness.

Psalm 145 is such a wonderful psalm, it is so uplifting and I’m sure we could all benefit from being uplifted! I hope you have a moment or two to read all of it today.😊 

David was a man who had learned, before he did anything else, to exalt his God and King. He acknowledged that there was Someone far greater than himself, or any other person who ever lived. He loved to praise the Lord and give Him the place of High Honour He is so worthy of, and declared he would do it forever. 

We can learn a lot from his way of doing things in our here and now. He says he will praise God every single day. I wonder if we consciously do that? I know I’ll spontaneously say ‘Praise God ‘at some point in the day, but he demonstrated spending time each day praising God as part of his daily routine. 

When we’re getting bogged down with the things that are happening around us, we can lift our eyes up and start praising our God too, so we remember how powerful He is. We’ll bring down the forces of darkness at the same time because we know praise defeats our enemy!😊

He reminds himself that his God is so great, so powerful, so above and beyond every other force trying to come against him, that he just had to declare it and as he heard himself speaking or singing God’s greatness, his faith would grow and he would be encouraged. We read in another passage how David knew how to encourage himself in the Lord, when it looked like all was lost, and we can do the same.

So wherever you are today and whatever else you are doing, let’s sing praises to our God and declare His greatness to one another as we worship Him because He is always worthy of all our praise. Amen.

Photo by Mic Narra on Unsplash

OUR NO LACK GOD

Psalm 84:11 For the Lord is a sun and shield; The Lord will give grace and glory; No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.

Whatever is happening in our lives right now God knows all about it and He is answering our prayers. In fact, He had the answers all lined up long before we even had the problem! All He waits for is someone to step out in faith and believe His word. He’s waiting on someone to say ‘I don’t know how You’ll do it, but I believe You have the answer and You’ll bring it to pass in Jesus name.’ There’s nothing to stop each one of us from being that person!😊

God is not scratching His head wondering how on earth He’s going to fix things. No, He already had the thing sorted before we were even born! We need to really see that God is so much bigger than any problem that’s looming so we can believe for the impossible. As far as God is concerned all things are possible to anyone who believes, and we can’t out believe His ability to provide whatever is necessary.

God is a no lack God who is eager to bless us. Our verse says He is not a God who holds back, so we don’t need to hold back from God either. We can believe Him with our whole hearts. Whatever we lack He has already provided for us, waiting for us to claim it by faith in the finished work of Jesus. You might think you have a lot of problems, a lot of lack, but you also have a lot of God!😊

Jeremiah 1:12 (AMP) God says,”..I am alert and active watching over My word to perform it”, which means if you can find it in the Word, you can have it in your life! God’s promises never fail and He is faithful.

As you read this, have confidence in the truth that the One who made you, God Himself, is releasing good things into your life right now. He cares about you so much and all things are possible with Him. There’s a song called “Can I get an Amen?” It says ‘….Your presence is available. Your promises attainable, the possibilities are limitless.’

Let’s believe for limitless possibilities today. Have a blessed weekend. 😊

‘Can I Get An Amen’ Song with lyrics https://youtu.be/wF7nfkBfLpU?si=T2B8zWPjrfeXv2pD

Photo: Jose Castillo on Unsplash

AUTHOR OF OUR TOMORROWS

Psalm 37:23-25 (NLT) The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand.

I heard someone say “The Author of tomorrow is directing my steps”. God says all our days are written in His book and we can thank Him He is working out all the events of our lives for our eventual good, no matter how crazy they seem. We can magnify our God rather than magnifying our problems because we know God is good and far far bigger than any situation we’re dealing with. We can be strong and of good courage because the Lord God is with us all the time. (Joshua 1:9)

Hebrews tells us Jesus is also the Author and Finisher of our faith so our part is to use our faith to believe for whatever He’s put in our heart, and look to Jesus to help us get it off the ground and bring it to completion for us. We have to take that initial step of faith in order for Jesus to take us forward on the path He’s prearranged, but if we don’t take the step, how can He direct us? You can only direct a moving car. It won’t go anywhere sat in the garage!

So if you’ve been hesitating whether to step out in faith can I encourage you to get your ‘car’ out on the road? It’s time to take that step, knowing that if God is for us (and we know He is) then who can be against us? We know His favour surrounds us like a shield so we can do as Proverbs 3:6 says Seek His ways in all you do, and He will show you which path to take. And don’t forget He holds you by the hand as you do it!

Whatever you’re believing for remember God wants you to have His highest and His best. He’s not a stingy, get by God. He’s an over the top, more than enough God and He has things planned for you that will blow your socks off if you only knew! (Ephesians 3:20 …exceedingly, abundantly, above and beyond! Remember?)😊

Thank You Lord You hold our hand as we step out in faith in obedience to You in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Be blessed as you take that first step.😊

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash 

ENJOY BEING YOU

Revelation 4:11Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. 

I’m one of those people who don’t do mud and really don’t enjoy muddy walks, ending up covered in a muddy mess! Now my granddaughter is the opposite, who doesn’t care two hoots how muddy she gets! We’re all so different and that’s good. How boring we would be if we were all the same!

I love the fact God has made us as individuals for His good pleasure. I think He enjoys the fact that we all have so many facets to our characters, just like He does, because we’re made in His image and His likeness. He’s made us so there are no two of us the same, just like snowflakes. 

So next time you meet someone who’s very different to you just say “Hello snowflake.”🤣

And if someone thinks you’re a bit strange don’t worry about it because they’re maybe a bit strange too, but none of us is strange to God, we’re just different! You’re just you, and nobody can be a better you than you! It’s no good when we try to be like someone else. God doesn’t need another one like them, He needs one just like you, so rejoice and celebrate your uniqueness, your ‘youness’.😊

It also helps when we look at others to remember, whether they’re flamboyant or quiet natured, that’s how God made them and we can ask the Lord to help us learn to appreciate them just the way they are, rather than judging them, and hope they’ll treat us the same way. 

Some people have had such a hard past and if we had worn their shoes we might be in an even worse state than they are, so let’s show each other lots of grace and allow one another to be changed by the Lord where He knows we need it, when He knows we need it. He’s making you and me into the best you and me we can be.😊

Philippians 2:13 (NKJV) For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.

In the meantime, just remember, whether you like mud or not, God made you for His good pleasure and God never makes mistakes. You’re one of His masterpieces, and as a lovely friend said to me this week “Just be you” and it blessed me so much, so I pass it on “Just be you.”😊 In Jesus name. Amen.

Photo: June Admiraal on Unsplash

LOOKING FORWARD

Philippians 3:13-14 No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing. Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead. I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.

When I was small and bumped into things, my dad would tell me to either look where I was going, or go where I was looking. Now I’m older I’d like to follow the first part of his advice and make sure I’m going forward and keep looking towards it.

Too often, when we’ve had difficult things happen in our past we can look back with regret or sadness, or even resentment if something wasn’t even our fault. But Apostle Paul learned dwelling on the past was definitely the wrong thing to do, no matter how much we try to justify it.😊

I was chatting with someone the other day and they seem stuck, going over and over what happened years ago, and they have so lost their joy in their present as a result. They refuse to let it go because they can’t understand it, but in the times we don’t understand we need to know God is still in control of our lives and trust Him to do things His way in our future.

I’m sure we could all make a big deal over some things that happened to us, but why should we let our past destroy our future as well? That seems such an unwise thing to do! We can’t change the past, and we’re not always privileged to know the whys and wherefores, but we have to trust God to lead us into the good future He has promised us. 

I read this yesterday ‘Make peace with your past so it doesn’t mess up your future’. The thing is if we’re looking back all the time, for whatever reason, we won’t be able to reach forward to grasp the good things God still has planned for us up ahead. The oldest man alive is 111, so even if you’re 91 you may still have 20 years of God filled purpose and blessings to go before He takes you home!😊 The oldest woman alive is 117!

God doesn’t want us to allow past mistakes, or loss, or hurts or betrayals to steal our future as well as our past. God has given us permission to look forward and to press on to better days ahead. Maybe we need to get a revelation that we’re not going to change anything by dwelling on what might have been, or what was, but let God give us a great sense of expectation of good of what He has for us still to come and live with His joy in our hearts. Amen. 

Job 8:7(CEV) Your future will be brighter by far than your past. 😊

Photo: Anastasia Zhenina on Unsplash

DON’T GIVE THEM A CHANCE!

Joshua 10:19 The rest of you continue chasing the enemy and cut them down from the rear. Don’t give them a chance to get back to their towns, for the Lord your God has given you victory over them.

I love it when God gives us clear instructions, don’t you? He tells us here how to deal with our enemies, those spiritual forces that come against us. He says when you’ve chased them out and defeated them, don’t let them get back! Keep the door closed! He reminds them God had given His people victory over their enemies but they have to make sure they stay out!

For instance, when we know God has healed us of something and we’re thrilled to bits about it, very often we’ll feel a pain or some other symptom like we had before. Right then is where we have to stand our ground and say “No, you’re defeated, by Jesus’ wounds I’m healed of that, you’re not getting back in my body. Go!”

Too often we fall for the enemy’s trick and begin to doubt our healing and say “Oh dear, I guess I wasn’t healed. It’s come back.” When we do that we open the door again and it re-establishes itself and the devil rubs his hands together with glee because He deceived us! In Matthew 12:43-45 Jesus explains how an evil spirit leaves a person, then comes back to find the house all clean, so it moves back in bringing other spirits with it. We don’t want that!

1 Peter 2:24 He personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By his wounds you are healed.

When we’ve believed God’s word and know God has got rid of something for us, we have to be on guard so that when it tries to come back we can slam the door in its face and say “No way! I’m holding on to my victory. You’re done, finished, you’re not coming back!”

Remember, if you want to doubt something, doubt the enemy, not God! And if God has given you a breakthrough, however small, in some area of your life, and the enemy comes back to steal it again, keep the door closed and refuse him entry even in your thoughts! Don’t give him a chance!😊

Friends, we’re not resisting in our own strength but we do need to stand our ground with our armour on. Even when we feel weak God’s strength is there in us. Thank God we’re strong in Him and in His might not our own. His promises are true, His word will stand forever, He has given us His victory, now let’s hold on to it!😊 In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Photo Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

THEY WERE READY

Joshua 4:13 These armed men - about 40,000 strong - were ready for battle, and the Lord was with them as they crossed over to the plains of Jericho.

When soldiers are ready for battle they should be fully armed, well trained, listening for their commander’s instructions and on the alert.  

2 Timothy 2:3-4 talks about us being soldiers of Christ Jesus and I found myself  asking the question “Am I, are we, ready for battle?” We know we have an enemy who wants to destroy us, so we better be ready to fight! 

As Christians we’re not weak kneed, but strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. We are equipped with spiritual weapons to bring down strongholds, His banner flying over us is love and we have the name and the blood of His Son the Lord Jesus Christ as our weapons. We also have His word in our mouths to demolish our enemy and God has also given us authority over all the works of the enemy, not just some, but all! We’re well equipped when you think about it!😊 

Not only that but our verse adds “and the Lord was with them”. That’s the important thing - the Lord is with us so we have the advantage - we have the mightiest, strongest power in the universe with us. Jesus has already defeated our enemy, we don’t have to do it, but we do have to stand against him and not allow him any ground.

It’s good to know as well that we have angelic brings on our side to minister to us. No wonder the Holy Spirit calls us more than conquerors! You and I are much stronger than we think!

So however you’ve seen yourself in the past, remember God wants us to see ourselves as He sees us - Soldiers of Christ, strong in the Lord, over-comers through Jesus, filled with the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead, because that is who and what we really are and what we have. Hallelujah!😊

So whatever our routine is this week let’s think like God thinks, and we’ll be ready to win, for the Lord is with us indeed. Thank You Lord. Amen.

Photo by Jan Zikán on Unsplash

WHAT TO DO WITH JESUS?

Luke 6:11 At this, the enemies of Jesus were wild with rage 

and began to discuss what to do with Him.

What to do with Jesus? Good question! They were asking it 2,000 years ago, and it’s a question we will all have to answer at some point in our lives, and whatever we decide will determine where we spend eternity!

We all have free choice given to us by God and we’re free to reject Jesus if we want to but Jesus had a lot to say about it and was very direct as He said these words: 

John 3:17-18 (NLT) God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him. There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son.

God says there’s only one way into His heaven and that’s through Jesus. Many think that it’s God who decides to send them to Hell because of their sins, but God doesn’t want us to go there and has dealt with all our sin already. Jesus is so wonderful He has made the way of escape by taking all our sin and punishment on Himself. All He asks of us is to personally accept Him and what He has done for us. He leaves the decision with us.🙂

So may I ask you? “What are you doing with Jesus? and Where would you go if you died tonight?” If you’d like to be sure of going to Heaven then why not ask Jesus to forgive you and ask Him to come into your heart and make Him your Lord and Saviour? He loves you so much and wants you to be with Him in Heaven and has done everything in His power to make it possible, but He won’t force anyone to come - it’s our choice. 

And if we have accepted Jesus as our Saviour what are we doing with Him today? Are we keeping Him in a Sunday box, giving Him very little access into our lives, or are we inviting Him into our everyday, every area of our lives? It’s good to stop and have a think, and see what our honest answer will be. 

Jesus came to seek and to save the lost, the broken, the sick, the addicted, the poor, the depressed, everyone. He came to seek and save you and me and He came to give us an abundant life and a home in Heaven. What are we doing with Jesus?

1 Timothy 2:5 For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus.

WHEN THE UNEXPECTED HAPPENS!

Psalm 139:16 You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. 

My sister texted the other evening to say she had just pulled into her road to find there were police swarming all over the place and a very large police car was sitting outside her gate blocking the whole road. At first she thought her husband may have been taken poorly, which was very upsetting.

When she came closer though she discovered they had corralled three horned cows into her front drive! They had escaped from a nearby field and were heading for the main road so, as they were the only house with a conveniently open gate, the police put them in her front garden to keep them safe, where they were merrily eating her bushes and plopping everywhere!

Can you imagine the scenario, arriving home to ‘incident’ lights flashing, all the neighbours coming to see what was happening, and the shock she had, bearing in mind it was late at night, with cows in her garden? The farmer was in America so there were phone calls going across the airwaves for him to instruct someone with a trailer to come and take them away and then a local councillor turned up! It was all so unexpected but thankfully it was all sorted in the end!😊

It makes us realise we don’t always know when something unusual is about to happen and it’s quite hard to keep our perspective when things are thrown at us like that. Another relative texted ,“Try to see the funny side of it!” It’s not always easy though is it, or it might not be funny at all! 

The enemy wants us to get rattled and lose our peace and it’s at those times it’s so good to know we can call on the Lord to hold us steady, and to know we can ask people to pray for us, especially if it’s something really serious.

So although we can see the crazy side of this story, it also reminds us we can pray that the Lord will help us to stay calm when unexpected things suddenly happen, no matter how unlikely! We know God goes ahead of us and He’s never taken by surprise so let’s ask we’ll be aware of His supernatural peace and calm, aware of His presence at those moments when we really need it, and know that He’s right there with us in the middle of it all.

I pray you don’t have any ‘moo’ving experiences like that! Have a blessed weekend everybody.x😊