OUR CALLING

1 Peter 3:9 NLT 9 Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.

We read about people who receive a great inheritance from some long lost relative, and it probably crosses our minds how it must solve some of their problems!😊 But Apostle Peter is reminding us here that God has a blessing all prepared for us to inherit but it has a clause attached to it. 

He says to be careful not to retaliate when we’re treated badly, to not seek revenge on anybody or throw insults back when we’ve been insulted. How hard it is to button up our mouths in those times but that’s our calling and it may slip our minds in the heat of the moment!

He goes even further because He heard Jesus say the same thing, to bless those who curse us. Our ‘flesh’ wants to rise up and say something unhelpful but God has given us the ability to be longsuffering, and forgiving, if we’ll tap into our spiritual nature, to the Holy Spirit living inside us.

The Holy Spirit is our Counsellor and Helper who not only tells us to zip it up, but He helps us to do it, to rise to a higher level and act like Jesus would by blessing instead of cursing. He reminds us God has forgiven us of all our sins, so we can turn round and offer that same forgiveness to others. It helps to remember we’ve been shown great grace and mercy so we can give it away to others.

So be encouraged as you fulfil your calling to bless others, knowing you’re in the process of inheriting great blessings as you obey.😊

Lord we look to You to help us to fulfil our calling and to think and act like You want us to, even when sorely provoked. In Jesus name. Amen.

1 Peter 3:9 AMP and never return evil for evil or insult for insult [avoid scolding, berating, and any kind of abuse], but on the contrary, give a blessing [pray for one another’s well-being, contentment, and protection]; for you have been called for this very purpose, that you might inherit a blessing [from God that brings well-being, happiness, and protection].

EVERYDAY EXPERIENCE

Matthew 4:4 NLT But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

There are some things we do every day which we do just to keep the wheels turning, and then there are those we enjoy everyday - like looking forward to mealtimes, especially if it’s a favourite meal or treat.😊

When the Israelites came out of Egypt they were all moaning minnies, and complained about the food, and even despised the manna which they were given free every day. They didn’t have to go and buy it, hunt for it or even worry if it would be there, but they still complained!

We know the manna was a type and shadow of Jesus who is the Bread of Life and that He is the Word of God, but I wonder sometimes if we treat His Word with the respect and honour it deserves? We’re careful to eat regularly to sustain our bodies, but we actually need spiritual food every day to sustain us spiritually or we’ll become weak and puny in our spirit and fall for the enemy’s lies. 

It’s good to remember that God’s word is supernatural and Proverbs 4:22 says it is life and health to all our flesh. Another version says it is medicine to our flesh and we know it has no bad side effects which is wonderful. Do we turn to the Word as often as we turn to a packet of tablets?😊

It’s such an encouragement to know that when we read God’s word, and it’s an everyday experience, we’re building ourselves up on the inside, so we’re strong spiritually to meet whatever challenges come our way. Then when the storms of life come, if we do as Jesus says, we’ll be like the house built on a rock, but we have to read His word in order to find out what He has said to do.😊

Lord, we ask You to give us a fresh strong desire to feed ourselves on Your word more and more, so we know who we are in Christ and what we have in Him, and be strong spiritually. In Jesus name. Amen.

THE STAIRWAY

John 1:51 NLT Then he said, “I tell you the truth, you will all see heaven open and the angels of God going up and down on the Son of Man, the one who is the stairway between heaven and earth.”

If ever you’ve visited one of the old stately homes, you’ll probably have noticed their beautiful stairways, but I don’t know whether any of them would have had angels ascending and descending on them!😊

When Philip told Nathanael that Jesus was the Messiah and He came from Nazareth, Nathanael was very sceptical and said, ‘Could anything good come out of Nazareth?’ But when he actually meets Jesus, the Lord confirms He is the Messiah, the stairway between heaven and earth. 

What He was doing was reminding Nathaniel of the covenant Almighty God had made with Jacob at Bethel when He revealed a stairway with angels ascending and descending on it as well.(Genesis 28:12) God promised Jacob that the earth would be blessed through his descendants, and Jesus was saying He was the fulfilment of that covenant. Just as Jacob saw a stairway, the gateway to heaven, Jesus later called Himself the gate, or the door, to heaven.

Jesus says there is only one way to heaven, one gateway and He is that gate, that door. God’s plans began a long time ago but they always come to pass in time and we can be so encouraged by that.😊

It’s always good to be reminded that God keeps His covenant with us and our covenant is written in Jesus’ blood for eternity. Neither time, circumstances, principalities nor powers can alter it. Nothing can alter it! 

There are still angels ascending and descending to assist us and we can go through the door into God’s throne room at any time because Jesus is The Way in, and we have access to all of God’s grace and mercy, His joy and peace. Whatever we need, Jesus has bought and paid for it so we can possess it.

I hope that encourages somebody to know God’s door is wide open to us anytime and His arms are always outstretched to welcome us in. Thank You Father for Jesus. Amen.😊

MIGHTY MIRACLES

Micah 7:15 NLT  “Yes,” says the Lord, “I will do mighty miracles for you, like those I did when I rescued you from slavery in Egypt.”

Faith for miracles! I think having a miracle would make us want to do hand stands or jump for joy and if I managed to do a handstand it would be a miracle!🤣

But seriously, what would be a miracle for you? Good health, reconciliation in the family, someone to share your life with, loved ones to be saved? God wants us to be having faith for all sorts, but also to be believing Him for outright miracles. 

So what is a miracle? It’s an extraordinary event taken as a sign of the supernatural power of God. Our God is a miracle working God and we’re His child so we can expect miracles.😊

When Jesus’ disciples asked Him to increase their faith, He didn’t wave a wand and say, “So be it!”. No, He reminded them that the way to increase it was to use the mustard seed size faith they already had! 

Faith is like a muscle and the more we use it the bigger it becomes, but the secret is in the using of it, because that is what increases it.😊 Faith also comes by hearing the word of God and engaging with it. (Romans 10:17)

We know our unused muscles grow weak, and an unused faith will also grow weak, but faith that is active becomes stronger. So what are we ‘faithing’ for at the minute? God says He will do mighty miracles for us, and the way to activate our faith for mighty miracles, or for anything, is to agree with God and say what He says - that it’s happening and believe it.

“Thank You Lord, You’ve said You will do mighty miracles for us, that what You have done for others You will do for us because of Jesus. Thank You miracles are actually on the way, and we give You all the glory for them. We receive them by faith. In Jesus name. Amen.”

SAY SOMETHING

Psalm 107:2 NKJV Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, Whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy,

IF YOU SEE SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL IN SOMEONE, SAY IT!

I read that the other day and thought how much better that would be instead of finding something to criticise in people. Let’s find the good  and the beautiful in them and tell them. That way we call out the goodness that’s inside, the greatness God has placed in each one of us.

God made mankind in His image and in His likeness and He has put tremendous potential in every one of us. It’s our job to encourage and draw it out of those we meet.😊

Our ‘Say Something’ sign also reminded me of lots of things scripture tells us to ‘say’ - 

Psalm 107:2 NKJV Let the redeemed of the Lord say so…

Hebrews 13:6 NKJV So we may boldly say: “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear…

Psalm 91:1-2 NIV ... I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”

Matthew 17:20 NIV … Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

There are loads more verses like that if you’d like to look them up, but we’re reminded it’s us who have to say them, not just read them or think them, but say them. Our words are so powerful and they release what we are saying into our lives. (Proverbs 18:21 NKJV Death and life are in the power of the tongue…)

So this week it’s our privilege and joy to say something - to say what God says, to say to someone they’re beautiful, they’re special, they’re God’s masterpiece, God loves them and is helping them, and build one another up, knowing those things are all true about ourselves as well.  

You are beautiful.😊 Amen.

Photo by David Lopez on Unsplash

OUR PLACE OF SAFETY

 Psalm 59:16-17 NLT

But as for me I will sing about your power.

Each morning I will sing for joy

About your unfailing love.

For you have been my refuge, 

a place of safety when I am in distress.

O my Strength, to you I sing praises,

For you, O God, are my refuge,

The God who shows me unfailing love.

This psalm was written and sung by David when King Saul had sent soldiers to watch his house in order to kill him. Not your average day by any means and yet he says he’ll keep on singing about God’s power and unfailing love! I wonder if we would have done the same, or would we have paced up and down the room, looking worriedly out the window, maybe phoning a friend, and wondering what was going to happen to us at any minute?😊

David knew his God though, he reminded himself how God had always been his refuge, his safe place, and we too have the same God who is still our ‘safe place’, even more so as God is our Father. We know any good father will go to any lengths to protect his children, how much more will our God, our Father protect us!

Our verses reveal the importance of praise and how it can focus us on God instead of impending problems, or any distress we might be experiencing. I hope they make us glad we can choose to remember how powerful God is and turn our full attention on His unfailing love for us, and sing for joy today.😊

Let’s lift our praises up together to our great God who is worthy of all our praise. In Jesus name. Amen.

Photo by Doretha Rost on Unsplash

FAITH FOR THE MIDDLE

Joshua 4:10 NLT The priests who were carrying the Ark stood in the middle of the river until all of the Lord’s commands that Moses had given to Joshua were carried out. Meanwhile, the people hurried across the riverbed.

The priests had been told to step into the River Jordan which was overflowing its banks and God would dry up the riverbed and the water would stand up like a wall (v.13)! Can you imagine the peoples’ thoughts when they had to step out and cross the riverbed as well, bearing in mind they’d just seen it in full flood?

“What if the water suddenly comes rushing back on top of us? What if we can’t cross over quick enough? What if we only get half way there and something happens in the middle? We’ll all drown like we saw happened to the Egyptians at the Red Sea!”                      

You see, past experiences can cause fear to rise up in our hearts. The future ‘what ifs’ of what ‘might’ happen can also cause fear to raise its ugly head. We may start off believing for our healing, for the finances to come through and we’re full of faith, confident the living God is among us and with us, but then we reach the middle and start to look around. 

Joshua 3:10 NLT Today you will know that the living God is among you.

When we’re in the middle - that’s when we need to keep standing strong in our faith because the living God is still among us. He hasn’t abandoned us or gone to some far off galaxy. What He told us to do, He will equip us to do if we keep our eyes on Him and not on our circumstances.

We read how they hurried across, they just got on with it! Their eyes were focused on the other bank, knowing God would see them through to the other side - He’d promised!

Are you in the ‘middle’ of believing for a promise of God to manifest? If so, let me encourage you to keep standing in your faith, keep going, keep your eyes focused on where you’re headed, not on what’s happening or not happening around you. God won’t let you drown or let you down! He’s our deliverer, our saviour, our provider, our healer - not our destroyer. You are going to reach the other side, so don’t give up! 

Keep believing, keep standing - the living God is with you! Amen.😊

AS SOON AS…

Joshua 3:13 NLT The priests will carry the Ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth. As soon as their feet touch the water, the flow of water will be cut off upstream, and the river will stand up like a wall.”

“As soon as..” We often read those words on a memo or letter. It usually means as soon as possible, as soon as you possibly can. In this case though ‘as soon as’ they stood in faith and stepped into the water God did what He said He would do immediately. As soon as! God didn’t delay one second - but they had to obey first. How often we want God to take the first step, then we’ll do what He commands, but that’s not God’s way. As soon as He sees our step of faith and our obedience He goes into action.😊

We read another ‘As soon as’ in Daniel’s story.

Daniel 9:23 As soon as you began to pray, a word went out, which I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed…. Did we get that? As soon as we begin to pray something happens in the heavenly realms. I don’t know about you but that encourages me no end. If we’ve prayed in faith, knowing our God keeps His word, God steps in immediately and starts the answering process. It may take a little while but it’s on its way.😊

Now if we prayed in doubt there won’t be any corresponding action on God’s part because He is a faith God who responds to faith. So I’m here today to build our faith up, to remember He’s for us and not against us, to know God is faithful to His word and if we’ll stand on it, we will see Him do what He’s promised to do. God does not, and cannot lie! I want to remind us that it’s the devil who is a liar, a thief and a destroyer so why would we want to listen to his lies, doubts, fears and what ifs anyway?!

Be encouraged next time you step out in faith, or you pray in faith in God’s word, just keep in your mind that He answered ‘as soon as’ you prayed and thank Him for it. Praise God that’s good news today. I love it, don’t you.😊

Photo by Humble Lamb on Unsplash

WHAT DO YOU WANT?

Mark 10:52 NKJV So Jesus answered and said to him, “What do you want Me to do for you?” The blind man said to Him, “Rabboni, that I may receive my sight.”

Can you imagine the scene? Crowds of people thronging around Jesus, and off at the side of the road is this blind beggar shouting at the top of his voice, calling out to Jesus, trying to get His attention. The more the crowd tell him to shut up the louder he gets. He doesn’t care what people think of him, he wants to talk to Jesus! 

It’s obvious he’s blind and he wants healing, and yet Jesus asks him what he wants! We may think our need is obvious to God and that He’ll just do something about it when He wants to, but Jesus is showing us a principle here. We have to say what it is we want God to do for us.

The man was very specific. He said, “I want to receive my sight.” He was taking ownership of his sight before he had it. “My sight”. Instead, most of us take ownership of whatever our ailment is. How often have we heard ourselves say, “My cough is getting worse, my condition is no better!” 

But that sickness is not ours, it’s something the devil is trying to put on us to try to make us take it, to own it, but it doesn’t belong to us! God never gave it to us. We know there is no sickness in God’s kingdom of light because if there was, it would be no different to the kingdom of darkness! We pray ‘Your will be done here on earth as it is in heaven.’ Is there any sickness in heaven? Thankfully, we know there isn’t, because it’s not God’s will for there to be sickness!😊

Rather we can be laying hold of our healing and saying, “Lord, by faith I receive my healing, my wholeness, my peace in this situation”. We can do that because Jesus paid for it all at the Cross and legally it all belongs to us already, because we are ‘In Christ’, who has no sickness, and it’s part of the blessings which we’ve already been given, part of our inheritance. That’s good news.😊

Glory to God! Thank You Jesus. Amen.

NEW OPPORTUNITIES

Galatian’s 6:10 NLT Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone—especially to those in the family of faith.

I woke up this morning and those two words kept coming into my mind, “New Opportunities”. It’s a day when God is putting new opportunities in our hands and we’ll decide whether to take them or whether to pass them by.😊

You may have seen the programme where the budding entrepreneurs appear before a panel of judges to present their product, hoping to be given the opportunity to be backed by one of the millionaires. They then have to decide whether to take the opportunity they’re offered or not. They’re not compelled to take it, just given the opportunity.

I believe the Lord is saying the same thing to us. It might be an opportunity for a new job, or to start a new business, or to begin a new relationship, or to volunteer to help in some way. It might be a good deal in a shop the Lord has provided, to be at the right time and right place, or to partner with a ministry taking the gospel to people, and the choice will be ours.

You might have a few minutes to spare and it’s an opportunity to draw closer to Him, or to speak to someone about how good our God is to us, to share our faith, but we have to decide whether to take the opportunity or not. 

There will be opportunities to be thankful and be glad we’re alive, thankful we belong to God, to smile at people because we know we’re cared for and loved by Him, opportunities to show His love.

This is a Rhema word from God and our verse reminds us to take every opportunity to do good, so as we go out today we can have that mindset and be on the look out for God’s divine opportunities and grab them before they pass us by. 

Father, help us not to miss the opportunities You offer us. In Jesus name. Amen.😊 

I’d be interested to hear what happens if you’d like to share in the comments in due course.😊

IMITATE OUR HEAVENLY FATHER

Ephesians 5:1 NLT Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children.

Wow! The original language says to be continually imitating God in everything we do, not just in some things, so it must be possible or He wouldn’t tell us to do it, but it’s quite a thought!😊

I was thinking about Isaiah 54:9 where it says God’s thoughts and ways are so much higher than our thoughts and ways, and we tend to think, “Oh well, I can’t possibly think and do things like God so there’s no point in trying!” But that’s Old Covenant, and we’re now in the New Covenant. Notice what God calls us now - His dear children, and He wants us to copy Him, to be just like Him.

God sees us as dear to His heart and He’s given us the ability to live our lives in the power of His Holy Spirit, who teaches us to be imitators of our Heavenly Father. So what does that mean in the everyday?

Well, God loves us unconditionally, so He wants us to do the same to others because He’s put His love in our hearts to be able to do it. He says let the weak say I am strong; to forgive, when we feel like going off in a huff; to let the poor say I am rich; to say we’re Overcomers when we feel like we’re going under; to bless our enemies when we don’t want to.

Our job is to speak words of faith, agreeing with God, not our circumstances. It’s God’s way - not ours, because He knows our faith filled words can change our world! It certainly requires the transforming of our minds and the help of His Holy Spirit!😊

So we have a choice to make each day, are we going to be imitators of our Heavenly Father and do what He says, or are we going to do life our own way? 

Thankfully God never told us to work it all out before we do it, or to see if it’s working, or if we ‘feel’ like it. He just says to do what He does and we can have what He says we can have, and it’s all done with a childlike faith, because He calls us His dear ‘children’.😊 

Lord help us choose Your way each day. Amen.

Photo by CDC on Unsplash

PREPARED IN ADVANCE

Mark 14:15 NKJV ‘Then he will show you a large upper room, furnished and prepared; there make ready for us”

I wonder, are you a person who makes a list for everything and you’re well prepared, or are you the spontaneous type who wings it? The disciples were wanting to get ready for Passover and asked Jesus where they would hold the meal so He told them He’d already arranged for it to be prepared for them.

God wants us to know He always has good plans prepared for us to enjoy, and also prepared good works in advance for us to do with His help.(Ephesians 2:10) Our God is always prepared!😊

Our God loves us so much He only wants the best for us and if we’ll stay tuned in to Him, and give Him first place, He will bring us into His prepared blessings. We see it at the very beginning in Genesis 2:8 where God had prepared the most amazing garden for Adam to live where he had everything he could wish for. In John 14:2 Jesus reminded His disciples He was going to prepare a place for us all and when it’s ready He’ll come and fetch us home to be with Him, but that’s in the future. What about here and now?

Psalms tells us the head of the righteous is blessed and in Ephesians 1:3 God wants us to know He’s already blessed us, and prepared His plans and purposes for this life if we’ll follow His lead (Jeremiah 29:11). He says the path of the righteous gets brighter and brighter which is the opposite of doom and gloom!😊 

You might be thinking, “Well, how do I position myself so I can receive what He’s prepared?” We do it by expecting them, by believing His promises, by taking Him at His word and as we believe so we will receive. It’s all by His grace, not because we’ve worked for them or deserved them. It’s all the goodness of God.

So this week, can I encourage us all to have a spirit of expectancy of the good things God has prepared in advance for us and know His hand of blessing is on your head wherever we go. In Jesus name. Amen.

APPRECIATING GOD’S GOODNESS

 1 Chronicles 16:23-25 NLT

Let the whole earth sing to the Lord!

Each day proclaim the good news that he saves…

Tell everyone about the amazing things he does.

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

V.34 Give thanks to the Lord for he is good!

His faithful love endures forever.

Let the whole earth - not just you and me, but one day the whole earth will sing to the Lord and give Him all the praise He is due. How grateful we are that someone proclaimed and gave us the good news that Jesus died to save us, forgive us and reconcile us to our loving Heavenly Father. What a hope of glory that truth has placed inside us; this life is not all there is but there’s an eternity to spend in God’s joyful presence. 😊

King David wasn’t in the least bit hesitant to tell everyone he met about how good God had been to him and I’m sure if we were more up front, God would lead us to the people who are ready to hear about His goodness and the amazing things He does.

Today, as with every day, we can bring our God our praise, and declare His greatness together, when we can give Him all our thanks for all the goodness He has poured into our lives knowing He’ll never stop. Why? Because His faithful love for us endures forever and ever through the Lord Jesus.

If you woke up feeling a bit weary or down this morning, as the clocks all went forward here in the UK, just think about the goodness of God for a few minutes and let the Lord give you a fresh perspective. If we have the health to get up and walk about, ability to talk to a loved one whether in person or on the phone, to know God loves us beyond measure, to know He is caring for us and protecting us, then we are blessed indeed, and have much to praise Him for. In Jesus name. Amen.

Photo: Fallon Michael on Unsplash 

 

STARVING THE MONSTER

Mark 11: 23-24 NKJV For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. 24 Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them. (Underlinings are mine)

Jesus said that we can have what we say when we believe it in our hearts. Now that works both ways because it is a spiritual law He’s giving us. If we believe the problem is getting worse, and speak the problem all the time, then that’s where our faith is and we will have what we say! 

But if we turn it round and speak God’s Word, which is His will and believe it, then we can have what we say, which is putting the problem right. Very often we speak the way it is, instead of speaking the way we want it to be.😊

Then Jesus says if we believe and receive what we prayed for, when we prayed for it, before we ‘see’ it, and don’t doubt it, then we will have the answer. But we have to believe we receive them, and know that however long it takes for them to come, they are definitely on the way. We have to hold on to the confession of our faith and not waver. 

Too often we bow to circumstances, to what we see with our physical eyes, or what we feel, and say, “Oh it’s not working” and we cancel our prayer of faith! We let go of our confession of faith because we were led by our senses and not by what the Word promised.😊

God says in His word that if two of you agree on anything it will be done. Now that can work both ways as well. These are spiritual laws that Jesus was giving us and what we don’t always realise is that when we speak out our problem, how nothing is changing, how it’s getting worse, other people hear us and agree with us about how bad it is and we have whatever two agree on! We’re putting that spiritual law into operation and we’re feeding the monster of the problem and causing it to grow bigger. But rather, we can starve the monster and say the Lord is turning it around for good, that He’s giving beauty for the ashes, that we’re victors not victims, and agree on that instead.😊

Lord, help us to renew our minds and retrain our mouths to agree with Your words, to speak what we want to see and not the problem. In Jesus name. Amen.

Photo: kraken images at Unsplash

AS JESUS IS….

1 John 4:17 NKJV 7 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.

When God created Adam His plan was for mankind to rule and have dominion in the earth but we know Adam disobeyed God and handed his authority over to Satan.

But hallelujah, God provided a second Adam and Jesus is the One who brought us back to that place of fellowship with His Father, to where we can hear His voice and once again have authority in the earth through Jesus.

God goes even further, He intends us all to become all that He created us to be when He chose us before the creation of the world. He blessed us with every spiritual blessing, which means whatever is in the spirit realm we can call it forth into the physical realm. We are blessed beyond measure because we are one spirit with Jesus Himself now, because as He is, so are we in this world.

One lady read that and realised Jesus is not sick or poor so she looked at her bad health report and told it to bow the knee to Jesus and His authority, because He’s not sick she wasn’t going to accept sickness either because she is in Him. She had a revelation of who she is and what she has in Christ!

So we don’t need to listen to any of the enemy’s lies but we can know God says we are as Jesus is, and declare it by faith over ourselves constantly. He wants us to see ourselves the way He sees us.😊

 

Get ready to give a victory shout because God says we’re in Christ, that we’re redeemed, forgiven, healed, secure, and qualified. He says we’re His masterpiece, valuable, free, equipped and empowered to prosper. He says we’re anointed, accepted and approved by Him. He tells us we’re not average, because we belong to Him and He has placed His own Spirit within us.

He calls us His child, and He has so many plans to bless us and not to harm us that it will be beyond our imagination, if we’ll just walk with Him, and in Him, and follow His path.

Thank You Lord for an ongoing revelation of who we really are in Jesus, that as Jesus is, so are we in this world, for Your glory. Amen.

Photo by Nghia Le on Unsplash

GOD USES UNEXPECTED SOURCES

Matthew 17:27 NLT … so go down to the lake and throw in a line. Open the mouth of the first fish you catch, and you will find a large silver coin. Take it and pay the tax for both of us.”

We all know God thinks and does things on a higher plane than we do. How amazing it is that He has now placed us in the higher realm as well, seated in Christ beside Him at His throne, where all things are possible, and made His wisdom and abilities available to us too, through His Holy Spirit. Just think about that for a minute. It’s mind stretching but true!😊

Even though we know God says that, we sometimes sit down in a puddle of doubts or fears because we forget we’re seated with Him. Instead our eyes are on the things around us and not on who we are, and where we are with Jesus, with the enemy beneath our feet. The revelation of that truth will give us an ‘all things are possible’ mindset, a hope mindset.😊

Jesus and Peter had a tax bill due which neither of them had the money to pay for, but He didn’t say, “What can we do?” No, He listened to His Father’s instructions, and He told Peter to do something totally ‘out there”! -  to go fishing, because the first fish he caught would have enough money in it’s mouth to pay the tax bill for both of them! Can you hear what some of us would have said, “Yeah, right!” and rolled our eyes?

So can we all go fishing? Yes, in the sense that whatever it is Jesus tells us to do, no matter how ‘out there’, just go and do it! Jesus told Peter He was supplying their need from an unexpected source - a fish! Some of us would not have gone because we didn’t believe it was possible, but Peter knew to just obey the last instruction and all would be well. 

God can use an unexpected, unlikely source to help us too! He has ways far above ours, but He wants us to work with Him even if it is unexpected.😊

Has the Lord told you to do something that seems a bit strange, or to go somewhere, or asked you to believe that if you’ll do a certain thing, you’ll get a certain result? Whatever it is, can I encourage us all to just do it and obey His instruction. Believe that if Jesus can use one fish to supply Peter’s needs, don’t discount anything as impossible to supply your needs too. In Jesus name. Amen.

Photo by Sticker Mule on Unsplash

FREE INDEED

John 8:36 NKJV Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.

The other day Chris had a deep seated thorn in his thumb, which he couldn’t get out on his own, and over a few days the skin hardened around it and made it more painful and difficult to remove. In the end he soaked his hand in hot water which softened it and I was able to squeeze it out and all was well.😊

The reason I’m telling you that story is to give you a picture of what it’s like in our lives when a thorn of the enemy gets embedded in us. Sometimes it’s a thorn of offence, or deep hurt, or a thorn of feeling useless or inadequate. It might be a thorn of an addiction, or sickness, or a thorn of guilt or shame, or resentment or bitterness.

The enemy will use anything he can to hurt us, to harden our hearts to make us build up a protective wall around the hurt so we can’t function the way we should, and we hold people at arm’s length. So what’s the cure?

Just like soaking in hot water, we need to soak ourselves in the truth of God’s word which will tell us we’re forgiven, that Jesus bore all our brokenness, our shame and guilt, all our pain and hurts, as well as all our sin and sicknesses, at the Cross. Jesus took all the offences, the disappointments, the slights we’ve received that put us down, and He bore it all in Himself so we don’t need to. His great grace lifts it all away.

Jesus told His disciples one day that they were too hard hearted, and we know, when we find it hard to believe His promises, when we’re cynical, that our hearts have become a bit hard too.

He’s asking us to open ourselves up to Him, and it may take time, but the more we soak in His Word, and hear His Word taught, the softer we’ll become, the freer we’ll become, because we’ll discover who we really are in Him, not what circumstances, or others have tried to tell us or make us. We’ll discover we’re His prized possession, that He loves us more than we can ever imagine.

Whom the Son sets free, is free indeed.😊 In Jesus name. Amen.

Photo by Sneha Cecil on Unsplash

INCREASED POWER

Psalm 75:10 NLT For God says, “I will break the strength of the wicked, but I will increase the power of the godly.

I have good news today because whatever wicked thing is coming against you whether it’s sickness that steals your health, or lack of funds that causes you to lose sleep, or worries and cares that try to depress you, or it may be an addiction of some kind, God says He is breaking the strength of those things. Those bad doctor’s reports, the discord in the family, the difficulties at work, God is breaking the strength of those things. 

He goes on to say He’s increasing our power because we are the godly ones, the ones He calls righteous in His sight. When we can’t see things changing with our physical eyes, He’s telling us to receive His promise by faith, to grab a hold of it and let it sink deep down into our inner man and let it take root. He’s increasing our power, our authority, our strength to overcome because the Lion of the Tribe of Judah is on the inside of us, and He has defeated and disarmed our enemy.

All through the day, we can declare the strength of that thing that’s coming against us is being broken, it’s getting weaker and weaker and we are getting stronger and stronger in Christ to deal with it.

Remember God has declared we are overcomers just because we are in Christ today, because He is on our side, because we’re in the palm of His hand and He is a shield of protection around us, and His favour is for a lifetime.😊

God wants us to see ourselves increasing in power in the Holy Spirit, because the Greater One is dwelling on the inside of us, increasing in wisdom and authority because of who we are in Him. 

We’re on the victory side, whether it looks like it or not - we can declare it by faith and put the word of God to work and believe Him to do what He says He will do, and give Him all the glory. In Jesus name. Amen.

GOD WON’T LEAVE US

Isaiah 41:10 NLT 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.

I want to encourage us all this morning with the thought that God hasn’t brought us this far to suddenly go off and leave us to sort things out on our own. No, He is our faithful God and He will be faithful till the end. We know He’s brought us out of difficulties before and if we’re facing something challenging, we know He will do it again.

He’s the God who promises to uphold us and strengthen us, and He tells us the Holy Spirit is our standby. In other words we’re not to even think we’re doing life on our own because it’s not true. We have the Greater One living on the inside of us and He still has plans for each one of us, no matter how messed up things might look at the minute.

The secret is to keep focusing on what God has promised, not what is ‘happening’. He has promised to never forsake us, abandon us or leave us without support. He’s promised to be our very present help in trouble, to give us fresh mercies every morning and great grace to deal with whatever our day brings.😊

When the enemy whispers, “You’re going under”, we resist him with “I’m an overcomer, I’m more than a conqueror through Christ who strengthens me. I’m a victor not a victim because Jesus has won the victory and given it to me.”

When we think we won’t have enough money, we declare “My God says I shall not want, that He is supplying all my needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”

So be encouraged as we launch into another week and remember you are empowered by the Holy Spirit to rise above every situation, you are accepted by God Himself and He loves you far more than you know.

Thank You Father for Your faithfulness and goodness to us, as each day unfolds. In Jesus name. Amen.

And here’s a victory song to lift our spirits.😊.    https://youtu.be/l8GoD6qOApo

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GOD IS GOOD TO US ALL

 Psalm 145 NLT

1 I will exalt you, my God and King, 

 and praise your name forever and ever.

2 I will praise you every day; …

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

No one can measure his greatness.

8 The Lord is merciful and compassionate,

slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.

9 The Lord is good to everyone.

He showers compassion on all his creation.

13 For your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom.

You rule throughout all generations.

The Lord always keeps his promises;

he is gracious in all he does.

14 The Lord helps the fallen

and lifts those bent beneath their loads.

The Holy Spirit gave David a great ability to write about his God in a way we can all relate to and this whole psalm is brilliant but too long to put here, so I hope you find time to read it all.🙂 

It’s good to be reminded of the Lord’s mercy and compassion, and it’s so reassuring to know our Father is not quick tempered but filled with love for us. We forget sometimes that God is good to everyone, when we take so much for granted - like the sun coming up every morning, like the joy of being able to see, hear, taste and smell.

A couple of days ago I had the aroma of freshly baked Biscoff Cookies floating round the house and they smelt and tasted so yummy.😊 Life is full of the little things that bring us joy, as well as the big things, and it’s always good to bless our God for all His kindness, and to teach the next generation to do the same.

David reminds us even when we fall, He’s already there to lift us back up when things have brought us down, to help us get our perspective back, and we know His grace is always available to tap into day and night. 

In fact, yesterday, the Lord spoke these three words to me, “Great Grace Flowing”. Those words are for all of us if we’ll receive them, because He has great grace flowing into every area of our lives. Not grace, but great grace. He is the God of overflow, of more than enough. Maybe you need great grace in your life? Receive it by faith today. Thank You Lord, we receive Your Great Grace flowing in our lives.😊

I hope you enjoy reading the whole of this Psalm but in the meantime let’s join with David of old, and exalt our God and King, the One who deserves all our praise and all the glory everyday of our lives because He is filled with kindness. 😊 Thank You Lord. Amen.

GOD NOTICES YOU

1 Corinthians 12:25-26 MSG The way God designed our bodies is a model for understanding our lives together as a church: every part dependent on every other part, the parts we mention and the parts we don’t, the parts we see and the parts we don’t. If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt, and in the healing. If one part flourishes, every other part enters into the exuberance.
27 You are Christ’s body—that’s who you are! You must never forget this. Only as you accept your part of that body does “part” mean anything.

I think we all appreciate the warmer Spring weather and we’ve been able to get out into the garden again to clear up after winter. Our violets and polyanthus plants are looking lovely and I couldn’t resist picking a posy.😊

The violets are so unobtrusive you almost miss them under the hedge and life is a bit like that as well. There are some blessings, and some people who are very unobtrusive and if we’re not careful we don’t always appreciate them as much as we should do, or realise how necessary they are to us.

 

1 Corinthians 12:22 NLT In fact, some parts of the body that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary. Scripture reminds us that every single person in the body of Christ is so important, even the shrinking violets! We all have a part to play whether we’re in the background or the foreground. The lovely thing is God notices each one of us and we all matter to Him. He reminds us He doesn’t forget whatever we have done for Him, however seemingly insignificant.

Hebrews 6:10 :NLT For God is not unjust. He will not forget how hard you have worked for him and how you have shown your love to him by caring for other believers, as you still do.

We’re all in it together and we are all important to God so we never need to feel unwanted or unneeded. God chose each one of us from before the world was made, and He chose us because He wanted us to be part of His family, to have a place in His plan. 

So whether we feel like a shrinking violet that nobody notices, or we’re a sunflower that everybody sees, we can be very certain that God notices us and appreciates us, and He is the only One that matters.😊 Amen.

Have a very blessed weekend.x

YOU’RE IMPOSSIBLE!

Jeremiah 32:17 NKJV Ah, Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You.

I had a funny thought this morning when I woke up. You know when someone says “You’re impossible!”, they mean you’re being difficult, that they can’t get you to change your mind when they want you to? I suddenly realised we should all be “Impossible People” but not in the sense of being difficult to get along with, but because we are believing for the ‘Impossible” and we won’t change our minds.😊

We should want to be known to be those kind of people and see the impossible happen, because we know we have the God who does the impossible. He brings water out of a rock, He makes a metal axe head float on top of water, He heals incurable diseases, He feeds 3 million people in a desert for 40 years, and provides tax money out of a fish’s mouth! Impossible and yet all true!

He raised Jesus from the dead and brought Him out of Hell to be Lord of All. He loved us when we were still sinners, He takes our sin away and makes us righteous. Impossible but true! Only God can do those things - He does the impossible every day.😊 We all have testimonies of how God has done the impossible for us and in us.

Now it must be important because He’s bringing it up again, reminding us we can be Impossible Minded People. We know our Father is more powerful than we can ever begin to imagine and He’s asking each one of us to tap into His ‘impossible’ every day, to tap into the supernatural nature of God who lives inside us by the Holy Spirit, to believe all things are possible with our God.

Once again He’s asking us to release His power and ability because He ‘wants’ to do the impossible for us. We don’t have to twist His arm, He’s on our side, but His Kingdom works by faith, and faith works by love, which He has given to us already. 

There is somebody reading this who God is speaking to, asking You to change your thinking, to know your God hasn’t changed, that nothing is too hard for Him, and He still wants to do the impossible for you. In Jesus name. Amen.

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FIRST RESPONDERS

John 7:38 NLT Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’”

We all know the terrific job First Responders do when a crisis hits and how they ‘respond’ without hesitation, they’re on the job within the shortest possible time, to rescue and assist wherever they can. We thank God for them.😊

God is looking for first responders too because He’s wanting to do things in our lives, and those we come into contact with. He’s looking for those who will respond to His promptings! We all know that nudge to go and do or say something, or to show compassion. The thing is, are we listening, are we responding, or are we ignoring?

Can you imagine how sad it would be if the emergency service First Responders just sat at home doing their own thing, because they couldn’t be bothered, or didn’t feel qualified, or didn’t want to answer the call. If they said, “Let somebody else see to it, I don’t feel like I can, I’ve had a busy day.”  How many lives might be lost, how many people would remain unattended, crying out for help?

I think God is giving a wake up call today to each one of us to answer His call to respond to Him, to put down whatever is distracting us, to obey His promptings, because someone somewhere might need what He has for us to give them.

Jesus said that rivers of the life of God Himself would flow from inside our bellies, from inside our spirits, where we are one with Him and all that He has. 

Let’s be First Responders to answer His call to be ‘Jesus’ to them, to let His river of life, His healing, all that He is in us, to flow out to whoever God leads us to. In Jesus name. Amen.😊

THE POSSIBILITY OF THE IMPOSSIBLE

Matthew 19:26 NLT Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible.”

I wonder how many times we look at situations in our own lives, or across the world and think how impossible it would be for things to change, and yet Jesus says it is possible!😊 Scripture goes on to say, 

2 Cor 4:18 NKJV while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. 

In other words, all the things we can see, like a bad report, or wayward family members, or a persistent sickness, or tricky situations, we can take heart because God says those things are  temporary, they can change! He wants us to look at the unseen realm and see that with God what looks impossible is possible!🙂

Jesus looked intently at His disciples, He looked them right in the eye, to say nothing is impossible with God. He wanted them to ‘get’ it! Do you have God? If you can say yes, then Jesus is saying to you nothing is impossible!

The lady with the issue of blood for 12 years, who had felt hopeless, now had a picture in her mind’s eye of herself touching Jesus’s garment and being healed. She imagined it, she kept saying it to herself as she pushed through the crowd. She ‘saw’ what wasn’t visible to her natural eyes. She saw it in her imagination and believed it.

God wants us to ‘see’ what He sees and He gave us our imaginations to do it, but we tend to use them for the wrong thing and we begin to ‘see’ the things we fear, instead of ‘seeing’ the good things we’re believing for!

The Holy Spirit wants us to let Him give us a fresh picture of what ‘impossible’ would look like in our lives, to see it in our mind, in our spirit, meditate on it, speak it, to hold on to it and not let it go. Remember God wants to do exceedingly, abundantly above and beyond all we can ask, think or ‘imagine’! (Ephesians 3:20 MSG) 😊

Mark 9:23 NKJV Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”

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HOPE SANDWICHES

Romans 15:13 AMPC May the God of your hope so fill you with all joy and peace in believing [through the experience of your faith] that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound and be overflowing (bubbling over) with hope.

We looked at this verse yesterday but have you noticed it begins and ends with hope? Have another look, it’s so encouraging. It’s a bit like a ‘hope’ sandwich, with joy and peace filling! Maybe we need to feed on hope sandwiches every day!😊

I’m so glad our God is the God of Hope and not the God of Doom and Gloom, aren’t you? 

Psalms 3:3 NIV But you, Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high.

Our God is the One who is there for us when our shoulders are all hunched up and our heads are down because we can’t see the end of the tunnel. It’s when the Holy Spirit reminds us how much our Father loves us and He lifts our heads back up to focus again on the Lord Jesus who gave His all, so we can have a glorious hope, to know He has good plans for our future. 

Notice God wants us to be so full of His joy and peace that we’re bubbling over with it, and how does it happen? By our choosing to believe what He says in His word, by believing His promises,  by lifting our eyes off our problems and looking to Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.

We’re called Believers for a good reason!😊 God has placed within us His very own faith and He’s given us the ability to believe not just for the possible, but for the impossible because we have the power of God at work within us.

So be uplifted and let me kickstart our ‘believing engines’ again today, to take off into the future with the God of our Hope, where God puts no limits on us, but encourages us to believe He can do exceedingly abundantly above all we can ask, think or imagine because of Jesus.

Take a bite of the sandwich and get ready to overflow with hope, get ready to bubble!😊 In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Photo: Alex Shute on Unsplash

UPLIFTING, HAPPY THOUGHTS

Psalm 16:11 NLT  You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever.

God wants to show us the way of life! Part of His way is thinking His thoughts, so I thought we’d have some happy and uplifting thoughts to start our week off right. Are you ready?😊

Philippians 4:13 NLT For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength. Now that’s a positive thought to take into our day. Whatever it is we have to do, He’s saying we can confidently call on His strength.😊

Philippians 4:5 NLT Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. If we’d just obey that ‘way of life’ we would be much lighter and happier, don’t you think?!😊

Joshua 1:9 NLT …Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”  Because He is with us, we’re surrounded by His favour, and we’re never on our own having to do life by ourselves. What a happy thought, that God, who loves us so much, is actually with us.😊

John 14:27 NLT I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart… So don’t be troubled or afraid. Jesus gave us that thought to lift us up above whatever is trying to weigh us down - peace in the predicament, peace when we’re under pressure.😊

Romans 15:13 NLT I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. I love that - a life filled and overflowing - not with fear and anxiety but with peace and joy. Thank You Lord!😊

I’m sure you can think of loads of other verses that put a smile on your face but maybe we just need to keep reading those uplifting ‘God thoughts’ out loud to ourselves, over and over again, until their truth takes root and changes our whole perspective and way of life. 😊

Have a blessed and uplifting week in the joy of His presence. God loves you. Amen.😊x

OUR CUP OF BLESSING

 Psalm 16:5 NLT 

Lord, you alone are my inheritance,

my cup of blessing.

You guard all that is mine.

V.7 I will bless the Lord who guides me;

Even at night my heart instructs me.

V.8 I know the Lord is always with me.

I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me.

Apparently David was writing this psalm when he was still in exile because King Saul was after him, so although David was anointed King, he had no kingly rights, no throne, no lands, nothing in the natural. But what he did have was the Lord Himself as his inheritance and He was more than enough. 🙂

There may be times in this life when things seem to be removed from us for some reason but we can know that no one can take our God away from us. When we have God, the All Sufficient One, He is, and always will be, more than enough, because Jesus has made all His blessings available to us!

He goes on to say the Lord is his cup of blessing. We too have the cup of blessing of the Lord’s supper when we drink the cup and remember all that Jesus won for us by shedding His own blood and exchanging our sins for His righteousness, our diseases for His divine health. 

In Psalm 23 He invites us to come and feast at His table where every blessing is laid out for us to enjoy. I wonder if we do enjoy them, or do we not believe they’re for us and we leave the blessings on the table? 

David’s heart was always to bless his God because he understood how merciful and good to him He was, and we can too.🙂  Even at night, when he couldn’t sleep, he knew the Lord was with him, talking to him in the small hours of the night. How comforting that is for each one of us who might struggle with our sleep.

And no matter what happens in life, he reassures us that the Lord is always with us so we need never be shaken. After all, when we remember we have the Almighty Holy Spirit living in us, who raised Christ from the dead, then we have the ultimate security ever known to man.

How wonderful it is to consider all those things, and I hope you are truly blessed as you do.😊

Photo by Geda Žyvatkauskaitė on Unsplash