COVENANT FAITHFULNESS

2 Samuel 9:1 NKJV Now David said, “Is there still anyone who is left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan’s sake?” 

Jonathan had made a covenant with David that if anything happened to him David would show kindness to his family for his sake. Sadly he was killed in battle shortly afterwards.

Their blood covenant was so strong that nothing could break it. It involved faithfulness and commitment to the death, and included family. So we find David some time later asking if there is anyone still alive belonging to Jonathan’s family because he wanted to show him covenant kindness. 

David found Mephibosheth, who was lame in both feet, and gave him back all the land that had been taken from his grandfather King Saul, and he was given a place at King David’s table to dine with him everyday. He went from nobody to somebody! 

Mephibosheth called himself a ‘dead dog’, he saw himself as hopeless, but now he owned land, had multiple servants, and held a place of honour with the king’s own sons! Covenant transformed his life.

Now jump ahead to Jesus and we see we are now in blood covenant with God the Father, through the blood of Jesus. Luke 22:20 NIV In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you. God invites us to His table, He calls us His sons and daughters and He is watching over His covenant to show us His faithfulness and loving kindness. He has given us His delegated authority, His name, His own Holy Spirit to comfort, and direct us.

It’s good to remember the covenant we have is all part of our inheritance in Jesus and it involves total restoration, forgiveness, healing and provision. God wants us to enjoy it and receive it in the here and now, because He doesn’t see us as ‘dead dogs’, He sees us as His much beloved children, set apart for Him. What a privileged people we are.😊

Thank You Lord. Help us understand what we have and receive it all. Amen.

OH, GIVE THANKS

Psalm 107:1-2 NKJV Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, Whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy, …

Our picture says ‘Good days start with Gratitude’ and it’s always good to begin our week with a thankful heart.😊 

Thankful we could get out of bed, thankful for a drink of water, thankful for strength to go about our routines each morning. Thankful for running water and sanitation when so many in the world don’t have any. Thankful God loves us with an everlasting love.

We can always find things to be thankful for and the Lord has promised to go ahead of us into our new week, smoothing out the crooked paths, surrounding us with favour wherever we go. There may be new people, new opportunities that God has prepared for us, maybe new challenges, but God has also promised to be with us in it all.

Let’s choose to be thankful, choose to be forgiving, choose to keep looking up and not look down at our circumstances or what we don’t have. We can choose to be grateful for what we do have, what we can do and know that our God is merciful and kind, His heart is overflowing with His love for each one of us.

We can thank God for the Holy Spirit who is going to help us to make right choices and have good attitudes because He is the Greater One and He is inside us. In fact, it’s good to remember and be thankful God has put us on the victory side, Jesus has made us more than conquerors and the end result is, we can’t lose!😊

Oh, give thanks to the Lord today, for He is good to us all, and He is putting a big smile on our faces when we remember to be thankful. 😊 Amen.

Psalm 107:8-9 NKJV Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, And for His wonderful works to the children of men! 9 For He satisfies the longing soul, And fills the hungry soul with goodness.

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THAT WONDERFUL DAY

Isaiah 12:4-5 NLT 

 In that wonderful day you will sing:

“Thank the Lord! Praise his name!

Tell the nations what he has done.

Let them know how mighty he is!

Sing to the Lord, 

for he has done wonderful things.

Make known his praise around the world.

Sometimes we can be so bogged down with daily living and the circumstances we find ourselves in, that we forget we are living in that wonderful day! What wonderful day? 

V.1-3 NIV In that day you will say: “I will praise you, Lord. Although you were angry with me, your anger has turned away and you have comforted me. Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord, the Lord himself, is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation. With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.

These verses remind us that it’s the day of our salvation. It’s the day the Lord turned His anger away from us, when He gave us the way back to Him. He gave His own Son to pay for all our sin so it could all be wiped away at the Cross. That is a wonderful day for each one of us when we accept Jesus as our Saviour!😊 

Even on difficult days it says He is the God who comforts us. He reminds us we can drink from the well of His salvation with joy because we can draw out His peace and forgiveness, His grace and favour, His mercy, His great love, whatever we need.

If we don’t draw out of His well we shall be miserable but if we do draw on it He will put His joy in our hearts. Let’s draw out of that well today and sing His praises. 

“Thank You Lord! We praise Your name! You are so merciful, so forgiving. There’s no one like You, so mighty but so loving to each one of us. We sing to You Lord, for You have done wonderful things and we make known Your praise around the world.”😊 Amen.

UNEXPECTED SWEETNESS

Judges 14:8-9 NIV Some time later, when he went back to marry her, he turned aside to look at the lion’s carcass, and in it he saw a swarm of bees and some honey. He scooped out the honey with his hands and ate as he went along. When he rejoined his parents, he gave them some, and they too ate it. But he did not tell them that he had taken the honey from the lion’s carcass.

We were out walking several weeks ago and we came across a diseased tree which they had cut down, and inside was this honeycomb made by wild bees which had long gone.

It was fascinating to think they had been happily making some yummy sweet honey in the middle of a decaying tree! As I thought about that I realised that we can look at some situations and think that nothing good can come out of them, but God is saying He can bring sweetness out of anything if we’ll trust Him.😊

Samson killed a lion one day and when he passed it by some time later, he discovered bees had made a honeycomb inside its carcass too! It seems bees can produce sweet honey in the most unlikely places, where you’d least expect it!

Maybe you have some things that look too far gone, or pretty bad. Take heart, because God who made the bees which make the honey, can certainly take your situation and bring sweetness out of it if we’ll believe Him to work His purposes out in the way He knows best.

Maybe it would be good to take a break and go and have some toast and honey.😊 And while you’re there ask the Lord to take whatever it is that has distressed and discouraged you, that looks as though nothing good can come out of it, and ask Him to make something sweet out of it for all concerned and for His glory. Amen.

Have a blessed weekend.x

(Please click photo to see honeycomb more clearly).

GOD IS MORE GOOD …

Psalm 34:8: NKJV Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!

I was listening to the testimony of a man who had been facing 76 years in prison for dealing in drugs which he didn’t do. He was actually acquitted a year later. Things had looked really bad but then he said this, “It doesn’t matter what the situation is, God is more good, than the bad is bad!”

It would be good to carry that thought with us because it’s a powerful truth. I just thought how immensely encouraging it is, that when we face seemingly impossible situations our God is bigger, stronger, more powerful and His heart is for us not against us. No matter how bad the bad is, our God overwhelms it with His goodness, His power and His love.😊

Our God is the God of the turn around and I was talking with friends the other day who were recounting how the Lord has recently turned a family situation around completely. It didn’t look good, and yet now the picture is completely different, their relative is changing and has new hope.

Can I encourage someone today to know that no matter how long things have been the way they are, our God is actively responding to our prayers to soften hearts, to redirect the footsteps of our loved ones, to alter mind sets which seem so stuck. With God anything is possible because He is outside of time, outside the confines of our natural world and when we speak out what He has said we’re drawing His plans and purposes from the spiritual world, into our natural world to change destinies.

Next time you think things are too far gone, recognise that thought as being from the enemy, look again, in the light of God’s goodness, and dust your faith off. Declare your God is bigger and more powerful, your God raises the dead, your God speaks and worlds come into existence. Now speak His word over your situation and believe Him to do the impossible for you too. In Jesus name. Amen.😊

Psalm 145:9 NIV The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made.

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EXTRAVAGANT PLANS

1 Chronicles 28:19 NLT 19 “Every part of this plan,” David told Solomon, “was given to me in writing from the hand of the Lord.”

We all make plans of one kind or another, whether it’s for a holiday, or maybe a family celebration and some people plan it down to the last detail, while others go with the flow!😊

In Chronicles we read how God personally gave David His plans for the Temple that was to be built, and we discover they were very meticulous. King Solomon actually carried those plans out to the last detail and we realise how extravagant they were! There was nothing but the best, nothing too much trouble and God provided it all through King David. He even provided the master craftsman Huram to make the gold, silver, bronze and embroidered artefacts. It was probably what we would call ‘over the top’!😊

It gives us an insight into the heart of God and His plans for each one of us. 

1 Corinthians 3:16 NKJV Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? We are now God’s temple and His plans for each one of us individually, and as a body of believers, are just as extravagant, over the top, and detailed, because that’s just who He is!

Psalm 32:8 NLT The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you. So whatever is going on with you at the minute, be encouraged and know God still has good plans for your life, they are plans to give you a future and a hope, plans to bless you not to harm you.

He has things prepared and planned for you to seek out and walk into, whether they are spiritual, physical, or relational - they are good plans, extravagant plans, detailed plans, and they have His fingerprints all over them! We just have to listen for His instructions and be willing to do as He says.😊

Thank You Lord. Amen.

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AT THE PROPER TIME

Galations 6:9 NIV 9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

I was reminded this week that one of the biggest tests we all face is not opposition, it’s time. When we keep believing God’s promise when we can’t see anything changing, when we remain faithful if we don’t receive any encouragement, when things look worse and we remain determined to stand on God’s word knowing He cannot lie, we are putting our faith to work.😊

None of us enjoys waiting but when we do, God honours our faith, we’re doing the ‘good’ He talks about in our verse, He’s helping us pass the test of time, to not give up, and to reap the harvest He promised.

Abraham waited decades for his promised son to arrive. Noah built the ark over a hundred years but every day he woke up there was no sign of the promised flood. Nevertheless, he obeyed what God told him to do, despite the mockery, despite his doubts, and he reaped the harvest - his family was rescued. 

Now we don’t have a hundred years to wait, many of us may never see one hundred, but if God has promised us something, it will happen. All He requires of us is to remain in faith, to believe what He has said.😊

When God goes quiet, when we don’t have any further instructions, when we don’t ‘see’ what we’re believing for with our natural eyes, we need to remember our faith is based on the incorruptible written Word of God, and know He is working behind the scenes.

The Holy Spirit’s encouragement to us today is to keep believing, don’t be moved by what you see or feel, but stand on God’s promise and know He will bring your harvest to pass - at the proper time - in His time.😊 Amen.

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WALKING AND WAITING

Lamentations 3:25 The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him.

When we love somebody we like to do things we know will please them. In the same way whatever we do in the Christian life it’s going to involve walking it out by faith because we know that’s what pleases God.(Hebrews 11:6) 😊

We forget sometimes that God lives outside the natural realm, that He is Spirit, not limited by our natural world, by time or space. He is supernatural and He has now made us new creations in Christ which means we’re equipped to walk in the unseen supernatural world as well.

Our finite minds may shy away from the supernatural because it requires us to think outside of the box we are ‘comfortable’ in. Faith walks in the realm where we believe things are changing, even when it doesn’t look like it or feel like it. God is immensely powerful and He has given us His Holy Spirit to enable us to tap into His supernatural ability, to believe for the impossible because nothing is impossible with God.😊

For instance, Jesus told us to speak to our mountains and tell them to be uprooted and cast into the sea. He didn’t tell us to ask God to do it for us. He didn’t tell us to talk about our mountains until they seem insurmountable! Instead Jesus says we’re to talk to our mountains about how big our God is, how powerful He is and in His name we take authority over them and tell them to be uprooted and removed.

It requires us to walk in the Spirit, to seek Him for His way of thinking and doing things. Not everything happens immediately but while we’re waiting for things to change, God is at work in our waiting, and that requires our faith to be active to believe He is working! 

I’ll say it again, ‘God is at work in our waiting”. Now be encouraged and hold on to that knowing our verse reminds us, ‘The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.’😊 Amen.

Photo: Kitera Dent on Unsplash 

JESUS INTERCEDES FOR US

Hebrews 4:14 NIV Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.

As I was sitting thinking, I was remembering that Jesus Himself is sitting at the right hand of His Father and He’s interceding on our behalf, around the clock, whether it’s Monday morning or whenever.😊

The High Priest in the Old Covenant shed the blood of animals, but we know Jesus is now our High Priest who brings the sacrifice of His own blood to the Father and is constantly reminding Him that He shed His blood for you and me and that our names are written in the palm of God’s hand so He won’t forget!

When I saw that it really got to me. 

Just imagine for a minute holding God’s hand and unfurling His fingers and there is your name written in His palm and as you look up His eyes are smiling at you with great love. What a thought!

Whenever Satan accuses us of anything Jesus is there reminding His Father we’ve been forgiven and made righteous because we’re trusting in Him and all He did for us at the Cross.

Jesus tells us God loves us as much as He loves Jesus Himself which is mind boggling! He’s asking the Father to hold us steady in our faith, to protect us from the evil one, to keep us safe, to cause us to walk in His paths. He’s asking the Father to fill our cup till it overflows and make us a blessing to others wherever we go. 

He tells the Holy Spirit to remind us God is always good, always working on our behalf, always turning things around for our good and for His glory, to give us abundant grace and mercy for every moment of our day.

Jesus speaks for us in the courts of heaven and He wants us to know He’s watching over us, backing us up all the time, cheering us on.

So be encouraged as we go into another week, never forget Jesus Himself is interceding for us, especially when we make a mistake, and He has given us His victory to enable us to overcome. Glory to God.😊 Amen.

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COME AND SEE!

Psalm 66:1-5 NIV

Shout for joy to God, all the earth!

Sing the glory of his name;

make his praise glorious.

Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds!

So great is your power

that your enemies cringe before you.

All the earth bows down to you;

they sing praise to you,

they sing the praises of your name.”

Come and see what God has done,

his awesome deeds for mankind!

Come and see! What a lovely invitation to mankind, to take the blinkers off and come and see how much God loves us. Come and see what Jesus has done for us. Come and see His good plans for our lives.

Sadly many people don’t come and see. They decide in their minds before they know anything about it because they have been deceived by the enemy. Even as believers we don’t always come and see what God is saying to us right at this moment for the coming day. We can be too taken up with the affairs of life and we neglect to come and see what God is doing and saying.

It doesn’t have to be like that though. God invites us into His presence today to come and shout for joy for all He has done for us, to celebrate His power and the awesome thing He did for us in making Jesus the Way back to Him.😊

Even when our daily circumstances are very difficult for a season, we can still praise our God because He never changes, even though our circumstances do. He is still worthy because of who He is and because He gave us His own Son to die in our place, to rescue us from a lost eternity.

Let’s lay aside our concerns and anxieties, our grumbles and complaints, our fears and doubts for a time, and give God all the praise and glory He deserves today. Let’s magnify Him and most of all thank Him afresh for Jesus and His great love for each and every one of us. In Jesus name. Amen.

ENJOY THE SMALL ENCOUNTERS

Psalm 104:24 NLT O Lord, what a variety of things you have made! In wisdom you have made them all. The earth is full of your creatures.

Yesterday my neighbour, who is a primary school teacher, showed us her ten little fluffy chicks that have been loaned to her to show her first graders, and they were so cute. Just little fluff balls and I’d never held one before until she put one in my hands. It was an ‘Aw’ moment!😊

We never know what the day will bring and when it’s as lovely as that it really makes us smile. It was one of those moments which we don’t want to miss.

Earlier on we’d been out for a walk down a nearby path when a robin decided to fly right in front of us and stopped us in our tracks. He just stood and watched us for quite a while without flying away, and he was so tame it was amazing. Another moment. 

Then we walked on to the fishing pond and we were sitting enjoying the sun when a mummy duck and her five teenage ducklings deliberately swam towards us and all climbed out of the water and waddled up the embankment in order to come and check us out, before swimming off again. It was quite an entertainment - another moment!😊

They were fleeting, small encounters that made us smile, nothing earth shaking or momentous, just enjoying some of God’s creation. It doesn’t happen very often, but when it does it’s good to stop and be present in the moment with a thankful heart. They reminded me of the old hymn “All good gifts around us are sent from heaven above, so thank the Lord, oh thank the Lord, for all His love.” 

Ecclesiastes 3:11 NLT Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time.

Have a blessed weekend and whatever small encounters you have, may you be able to take the time to enjoy each moment of them, however fleeting they may be.x😊

We Plough the Fields and Scatter
We plough the fields and scatter the good seed on the land;
But it is fed and watered by God’s almighty hand:
He sends the snow in winter, the warmth to swell the grain,
The breezes and the sunshine, and soft refreshing rain.

All good gifts around us
Are sent from heaven above,
Then thank the Lord, O thank the Lord
For all His love.

He only is the maker of all things near and far;
He paints the wayside flower, He lights the evening star;
The winds and waves obey Him, by Him the birds are fed;
Much more to us, His children, He gives our daily bread.

Chorus

We thank Thee, then, O Father, for all things bright and good,
The seed time and the harvest, our life, our health, and food;
No gifts have we to offer, for all Thy love imparts,
But that which Thou desirest, our humble, thankful hearts.

Author: Matthias Claudius (1782)

TIME FOR A DECLUTTER

Romans 12:2 NIV Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Now I don’t know whether you are a tidy or an untidy person but I’m a bit of both! My craft room often looks cluttered, but I do try to keep the rest of my house tidy most of the time.😊

As I was thinking about that I realised that a lot of us also have cluttered minds. We have clutter in our thinking from bad memories we should have let go of years ago, clutter from the upset maybe only yesterday or ten years ago, clutter from the anxieties about the future which have filled our minds with all the unhelpful things we really don’t want, because they steal our peace.

The trouble with clutter in our minds is, it doesn’t leave any room for new ideas or thoughts! Those times when God wants to give us a new uplifting thought but it gets buried under all the other rubbish we’re hanging on to, or we just haven’t any room left for His thoughts to come in and find a home.

There’s a TV programme which shows people with homes so badly cluttered they have to get people in to clear it all out and a lot of it goes to the tip. They’ve forgotten why they even keep things! Are we a bit like that? Have we hung on to wrong thoughts, wrong attitudes or memories and we can’t even remember why?

God wants to transform each and every one of us and He says He does it by transforming our minds, but we have to cooperate with Him in order for Him to do that. Maybe it’s time to stand back and ask the Holy Spirit to help us see what needs sorting out, to have a grand clear out and allow Him to show us what is clogging up our thinking, what needs throwing out and what’s worth keeping.

Like me, you’re probably getting the feeling it’s time to declutter our minds to make room for the new thing God is wanting to do, so we know what His good, pleasing and perfect will is for our future.😊 Amen.

GOD MEANS WHAT HE SAYS

Isaiah 43:19 ESV Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.

God still has new things for us all, and they may make our heads tilt a bit, whether it’s in our own lives personally or by the mighty move of God that is coming on the earth in these end times where the Holy Spirit will bring many people into God’s kingdom before it’s too late.

When we read this verse though, we may think it’s only referring to some big new thing that’s going to happen, but perhaps we forget that each new day is a new beginning.😊 

Yesterday has gone and we can leave it in God’s hands. God reminds us He has poured out His new mercies on us as the new day dawned for when we get it wrong, and He has showered us with the new blessings of His grace that will meet every need we will have in the next 24 hours.

There may be things looming in your life and you just can’t see how they can be resolved, or how things are going to work out, but we’ve not been called to ‘work things out’. We’ve been called to trust in the God who holds the solar systems in place, who calls out the stars by name, who knows how many hairs are on your head, who knows when you sit down and rise up again.😊

We’re called to tell others about the goodness and love of our God and leave the details to Him, one day at a time. We’re called to follow His lead, not to go down the cul de sacs of ‘good ideas’ or lean on our own very limited understanding. When God says He will make a way in the wilderness, He means it! It’s not an airy fairy, vague nice thing to say! God always means what He says. He will make a way!

So be encouraged to grab a hold of this verse, whether it’s for the next 24 hours or for the big picture of the future, because either way it’s God Himself who is promising it and He will do what He says He will do! My part is to stir up our faith and your part is to believe Him.😊 Amen.

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SOMETHING TO REJOICE ABOUT

Luke 10:19 NKJV “Behold, I give you authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.”

It’s easy to jump up and down for joy when everything is going well but it’s not so easy on those days when life is hard and the last thing you feel like doing just at this minute is rejoice!😊 

So why and what are we rejoicing about? When the Apostle Paul told us ‘Rejoice and again I say rejoice’(Philippians 4:4), even when he was in prison, he knew why he was rejoicing. It wasn’t fake! On one occasion he was in a cell, underground, chained, beaten and in pain. We saw a photo recently of the actual prison they believe Paul was incarcerated in and it wouldn’t have made you feel like rejoicing!

So how could Paul rejoice? It was because his name was written in heaven! That’s why we can all rejoice who own the name of Jesus who have repented of our sins and are trusting in Him alone and not in our own righteousness. We have a sure and certain hope of heaven, because of all Jesus has done for us.

John 14:2-3 NRSV Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling-places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also.

It means even when we feel like we’re in a prison of difficult days or hard trials we can rejoice in this  - our names are recorded in heaven and one day Jesus is coming back to take us into our new home where there will be joy everlasting and our Heavenly Father is waiting to say, ‘Welcome Home!’😊

But until then, even when things may look impossible, we encourage each other to keep standing on all the promises of God, we walk by faith and not by sight, and having done all, we stand - and we can all rejoice because we know God loves us and our names are written in heaven. 

Thank You Lord Jesus. Amen.

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OVERCOMING GIANTS AND LIONS!

1 Chronicles 11:22 NLT There was also Benaiah … a valiant warrior from Kabzeel. He did many heroic deeds,… Another time, on a snowy day, he chased a lion down into a pit and killed it. (See also verses 23-24)

We sometimes hear people say, “Have you ever heard of …..? and they name some so called famous person and very often I’ve never heard of them!😊 But have you ever heard of Benaiah? He’s worth knowing about because he was one of the famous thirty men who served under King David, who did many great deeds!

He killed two champion warriors, which of course then made him a champion! He chased a lion into a pit on a snowy day and killed it! Usually it would be the lion doing the chasing and it would be heroic enough to do it on a sunny day, never mind tackling it in a confined space in the snow, but nothing seemed to daunt the man! Then he took on a giant about 7.5 feet tall, just like David had done, wrestled with him, then took him down with the giant’s own huge spear!

Now scripture records all that for a reason. He was a conqueror, an overcomer, he was willing to take on anything and he won, but I can hear you say, “But I’m not Benaiah!”. 

True, but come forward and we see Jesus, our ultimate Champion, who took on every evil demonic force in every realm and totally conquered and overcame them all, but here’s the difference - He then gave us His victory, His authority, to take on and overcome and conquer whatever giant or roaring lion is facing us!

Jesus is the Lion of the Tribe of Judah and He is in us! Isaiah 41:10 “Fear not! I am with you!” 

So next time something looms up in front of you remember the lion being chased on a snowy day and wiped out by Benaiah and take courage. You have the far greater One now living in you and He will fight for you and through you, and you too will overcome, because there is a Champion in you and He is Jesus’ own Spirit. Hallelujah! 😊 

Zechariah 4:6 Not by might, nor by power but by My Spirit, says the Lord of Hosts. 

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NOTHING CAN SEPARATE US

Romans 8:35 NLT Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? 37 No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. 38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.

Everything in the garden may be rosy for you just now but there again it might not! There are times when we need to turn all our thoughts off and just read these verses over and over until they sink down into our spirit to bring peace into anything that is causing us distress. Whether it’s grief, or not understanding why things are the way they are, or when we can’t see our way through, or just when we can’t even think any more we’re so tired, they soothe our soul.😊

For those who are nursing sick loved ones, for those who are struggling to keep going, for those who are so poorly all they can do is call out to God for His help, whatever the trial we’re dealing with, these words are the bedrock beneath all of us. NOTHING CAN SEPARATE US FROM GOD’S LOVE.

Even in the darkest moments the Psalmist David constantly cried out to God for His help, for His mercy or His forgiveness. He clung to Him even in the pit he found himself in and reminded himself of how faithful and good his God was to him.

It encourages us to know that even when we may struggle when life is hard, we can thank God for the truth these verses minister to our hearts. 

As we start another week the Holy Spirit is lifting our heads to look up and reminding us that no matter what may happen, or how upset or distressed we may feel, or whether we’re on a high or in a low moment, He will always be faithful and we will never be separated from the love of our God. In Jesus name. Amen. 😊

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AT ALL TIMES

Psalm 62:5-8 NKJV 

My soul, wait silently for God alone,

For my expectation is from Him.

He only is my rock and my salvation;

He is my defense;

I shall not be moved.

In God is my salvation and my glory;

The rock of my strength,

And my refuge, is in God.

Trust in Him at all times, you people;

Pour out your heart before Him;

God is a refuge for us. Selah.

Trust Him at all times! Even when you don’t know what to do, when you feel helpless, when you feel awful, when you can’t see how and your hope is trickling away? Yes! God said it! Trust in Him at all times!😊

God is far bigger than the biggest trouble and He says if we keep trusting in Him and His word, He will make a way. God has more ways than we could ever imagine and He’s not scratching His head wondering what to do! He already had the solution of the Cross before the world was made and that involved provision to remove the sins of the world throughout thousands of years!

Let’s put our problems in perspective in the light of knowing how powerful God really is, and how great His love is for us, although we will never fully grasp it.

Let’s talk to the problem and tell it to be uprooted and cast into the sea. Let’s talk to God about the solution He has prepared and receive it by faith instead of rehearsing the problem and encouraging it to grow bigger in our own heads. 

Magnify the Lord, not the problem!😊 Why? Because as the Psalmist reminds us, we can trust Him because He is our Rock, our Salvation and Defender. He is our glory, our strength, and our refuge is in God alone.

I think that must be more than enough reasons to praise and magnify our God today, don’t you? Amen.😊

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THIS IS THE ACCEPTABLE YEAR

Isaiah 61:1-2 NKJV The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, Because the Lord has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord,…

If you’ve ever watched a slapstick comedy like Laurel and Hardy, you’ll know timing is all important! One second too late and the joke won’t work. In the same way we love it when we’re at the right place at the right time, whether it’s for a bargain in the shops or you ‘happen’ to bump into someone you haven’t seen for ages.😊

God’s timing is all important too. He has things planned and worked out on His wall planner, and our verse today reminds us that when Jesus came He fulfilled Isaiah’s prophecy that the year of God’s favour had arrived. Jesus said it of Himself in Luke 4:18-19. We are in that time span! We are in the time when Jesus brings freedom from anything that has us bound, release from poverty in all areas of life, to heal and restore broken lives and hearts. In a nutshell, the favour of God in every sphere of our lives.

This is the year, this is the time! We haven’t missed it because Jesus is the ‘I AM’, the One who never changes, the same yesterday, today and tomorrow, ever present in our personal world and the world at large.

So whatever opportunity you thought was gone, whatever health you’ve lost, whatever state your finances or relationships are in, Jesus is here today proclaiming and declaring that this is the year of the Lord’s favour - in our here and now. He’s asking us to believe it and accept it by faith, to not be moved by what we see or feel but only by what He has said.

Jesus’s words are for us all today  - good news, recovery, healing, freedom from oppression, freedom for those who are bound by anything, God’s loving kindness and favour - this year! In Jesus’s name. Amen.

Isaiah 61:2 NLT He has sent me to tell those who mourn that the time of the Lord’s favor has come,…

Have a blessed weekend.x😊

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GOD’S PART - OUR PART

Luke 9:56 NKJV “For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.”

When bad things happen we may be tempted to wonder if God is trying to teach us something, but if that was true we’d all have a degree by now! Actually it’s one of the lies Satan whispers in our ears to try to make us doubt God loves us. 

We may well learn something from the hard things that happen along the way, and when they do God is so gracious He says He will turn them round for our good, but it’s not God’s best way. He gave us an easier way to learn! 

2 Timothy 3:16 NLT All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. 

In the New Covenant, God says He has given us His Holy Spirit to be our Teacher, and His inspired Word to teach, rebuke, instruct and guide us. It doesn’t say He gives us sickness and disease or any other sad thing to teach us, which is reassuring.

Jesus made it very clear that if anything in our lives is being destroyed, whether it’s our health, finances, relationships, or whatever, it’s not God who is doing it but the devil. Jesus tells us that He came to give us life more abundantly, that God wants us to be in health and to prosper in all areas of life, but the enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy. (John 10:10). 

Jesus then tells us He’s overcome the world and given us His peace, His victory, His name, His grace, His Holy Spirit to enable us to overcome by the blood of the Lamb. So often though, we just pray and ask God to do something and wonder why He doesn’t, when He has already done His part, and given it all to us to use, through Jesus.😊

Our part is to speak to the mountain and tell it to be removed, to declare the end result of victory in our situations, to resist the enemy, to take our authority over him and bind his activities. We need to draw the line in the sand and say, “No more, no further!” God says His grace is enough, by the power of His Holy Spirit, to do it.

So be encouraged today to take a stand and find someone who will stand with you in agreement and tell the enemy to take his hands off your life, or the lives of your loved ones, and know God will back His word when we believe it and stand in faith. In Jesus name. Amen.

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MUDDLED UP!

Luke 10:38-40 NKJV Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus feet and heard His word. But Martha was distracted with much serving…

We recently had our family visit from Australia which was wonderful. We welcomed them in, made them feel at home and listened to all they had to tell us. How would they have felt if we’d welcomed them in and then ignored them? I think you can guess!😊

It’s great to welcome Jesus into our lives, but not so good to then go off and ignore Him to do something we feel is more demanding of our attention! That’s what happened to Martha. She welcomed Jesus into her house but she was more concerned about what she had to do and prepare than in actually sitting and listening to what Jesus had to say. She had her priorities all muddled up!

Colossians 2:2-3 NLT  …I want them to have complete confidence that they understand God’s mysterious plan, which is Christ himself. In him lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

Mary made a better choice. She’d realised that Jesus had all the answers and she wanted to know what He had to say! She was willing to be told off by her sister because she recognised what was most important at that moment, and that was to listen to Jesus first. Everything else would have to wait!

So this is a nudge to us all if our priorities have been muddled up lately. Let’s make a decision as we come to the second half of this year to spend more time listening to what God has to say in His Word and in our prayer time, and give the Holy Spirit room to show us the wisdom Jesus has for the days ahead. It’s our call - let’s choose to sit and listen.😊 Amen.

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ACCEPTING HELP

2 Kings 5:3 NKJV Then she said to her mistress, “If only my master (Naaman) were with the prophet who is in Samaria. For he would heal him of his leprosy.

Now you may be a person who receives help very happily or you may be a bit stubborn and choose to do things all by yourself!😊 Today we read about Naaman who was a highly respected commander of the Syrian army who needed help, but he started off as one of the stubborn ones!

We all need the help of the Holy Spirit but we may also need the help of other people who are God’s instruments. Naaman had to humble himself to receive what he needed and there are times when we need to do the same. 

The trouble is we may not want to admit we need help. We want to ‘cope’ on our own but God never asked us to ‘cope’ with anything. He is the One who upholds, who strengthens and helps us. He never asked us to live the Christian life in our own strength. He has promised to provide everything we need for each day, each moment. 

Naaman was a fiercely independent man who didn’t like to submit to anyone and yet he came to his senses and did as he was told to do by the prophet, and was wonderfully healed.😊

God’s principles work in any situation, not just for healing. Naaman received help from three sources - a foreign serving girl, a prophet of God, and the wisdom of other servants around him who all did their part by encouraging him to do as instructed, even if it humbled him.

God’s ways are not our ways but if we’ll do as He says, in due time we can have what He says we can have, if we’ll just obey the instructions and accept the help we’re offered.😊 Amen.

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STRENGTHEN THE WEAK KNEES

Isaiah 35:3 NIV Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way;

Hebrews 12:12 NLT So take a new grip with your tired hands and strengthen your weak knees.

We’ve probably all experienced times of tiredness, when we’ve battled with fatigue and you may be dealing with it right now. Those times when we feel we haven’t enough strength to get out of bed, or to deal with the nappies, or put the washing in the machine, or cope with the illness another day.

Those times when our spirits are at a low ebb and we think the tide will never come in again! When trying to pray seems such an effort and yet it requires no more effort than talking to a loved one or a friend and sharing with them how things are. 

That’s who God is to us and He’s ready and willing to listen to our every sigh, every whisper in the middle of the night when things can seem at their darkest. Jesus says “Come to me all who are weary and heavy laden.” 

Is that you today? If so, God knows your heart, and He wants to encourage you because the next verse says this, 

V.4 say to those with fearful hearts, ‘Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, …. he will come to save you.’

God is on your case, He is strengthening you from the inside with His supernatural strength. Each day, each moment He is by your side holding you up and giving you hope of better days to come because He’s the God of hope, of saving grace, the God who heals, the God of great mercy and unending faithfulness to you personally.

Deuteronomy 33:25 AMP Your strongholds will be iron and bronze, And as your days are, so will your strength, your rest and security be. …Notice it says ‘So shall your strength be’, not your weakness!😊

So take heart, you are not alone, and you are being restored and strengthened day by day, safe in His hands. In Jesus’ name. Amen.😊

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CALL OUT TO THE LORD

Psalm 18:3 NKJV I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised; So shall I be saved from my enemies.

All through scripture we read about men and women calling out to the Lord and He heard them and answered their call.

We all know that’s what we’re supposed to do but sometimes we soldier on stoically, and if God hasn’t answered our call as fast as we’d like, we think He’s not listening so we may be tempted to give up and not call out to Him anymore. That’s what the enemy wants when he sneaks up behind us to discourage us!

Let’s recognise the enemy’s tactics for what they are and go back to the throne of God’s grace to ask for the help, and keep asking like the persistent widow. Don’t give up but resist the enemy and tell him to flee.

We can call on God for help when we’re worn out, when we’re afraid, when all seems lost and our hope is dwindling. We can call on God when we’re ill, for His healing to manifest, for finances when we have bills to be paid and when we’re just plain tired out and we need renewed strength and energy for each new day.

We can call on God for anything and because we belong to Him He hears us and lifts us up when we’re down, He infuses new joy into our spirit when ours has disappeared down the plughole of difficult days. We can know our God hears, even when it’s a sigh or a groan, because He loves us with an everlasting love.

So be encouraged and come to Him in faith, even if you think you don’t have any, you do, because God put it in you when you were saved. It’s just been smothered by circumstances but it’s still alive and you can overcome the world with it!

As we enter the routines of another week, pick up your shield of faith and believe for better days, greater success, tenacity and courage to do whatever He calls you to do. Even if it’s just to put a smile on our faces in the face of our trials, it will help us because we know God is still for us and not against us. Thank You Lord. In Jesus name. Amen. 😊 

Psalm 61:1-4 NIV Hear my cry, O God; listen to my prayer. From the ends of the earth I call to you, I call as my heart grows faint; lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the foe. I long to dwell in your tent forever and take refuge in the shelter of your wings.

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FOREVER!

Revelation 11:15 NIV 

The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, 

and there were loud voices in heaven, which said:

‘The kingdom of the world has become

the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah,

and he will reign for ever and ever.’

Hebrews 13:8 NKJV 

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, 

today, and forever.

Have you ever wondered what Forever looks like? How wide is it, how long and deep is it? Does forever look beautiful? Is it multi facetted? Will it reach into the unknown, into spaces we’ve never even imagined? Will we be aware of its passing from millennia to millennia? Forever stretches our imagination!😊

Forever is where God lives, where the Creator of all things moves and has His being, where time no longer exists. Forever involves something of unlimited worth, of a substance that can never fail, and it’s God’s own love for each one of us. 

Psalm 136:1 NIV Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever.  He says He will love us forever, so whatever we have to do, wherever we have to go, whoever we have to meet, we know of a certainty that we carry inside us the love of Almighty God, who has declared His great love for us and says it will last forever.

And how comforting to know the Lord will reign forever, that nothing and no one can ever usurp His total supremacy and that Jesus our Messiah will be there, the same as He was when the disciples knew Him, only now He has all authority in all realms and He has the name above every name and every knee will bow to Him - forever.

So when we worship the Lord today, we can rejoice death is not the end. Whatever ‘forever’ looks like, sounds like or feels like, we can all be so grateful that best of all will be God’s mercy and love which will always be present forever and if Jesus is our Lord and Saviour then we will also be with Him - forever. Glory to God.😊

Thank You Lord forever. Amen.

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THIS IS THE WAY; WALK IN IT

Isaiah 30:21 NIV Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”

As you may have guessed from yesterday’s blog, the Lord has been ruffling our nest and asking us to step out in faith, out of our comfort zone, which will cause change in the days to come. We had been given the scriptures to back it up, we knew it was the right time to do it, but the other night I was hit with a bad fit of the wobbles, the what if’s!

When you wake at 3 am and can’t go back to sleep your thinking tends to be askew and by the time the morning fully came I’d decided I just couldn’t do it! I felt I didn’t have the courage or the faith to see it through. I wonder if you’ve ever been there? It felt too daunting and what if  ……?!

That’s not the end of the story though, praise God, because after much discussion, and God encouraging me in different ways, things are back on track and we know it’s right to go ahead and peace is now reigning once again! God helped me overcome the wobbles!😊

I thought it might help someone else to know we all have doubts from time to time when God is trying to move us onwards and upwards. The walk of faith is not necessarily easy, it has its ups and downs, its doubts and fears, and that’s ok as long as they don’t have the last word! 

It all comes back to God asking us to believe His promises no matter what! To step out in faith and trust Him, because at the end of the day we have to believe that whatever He says, or asks us to do, is possible because He’s in it with us to show us the way and how to walk in it.

So if God is telling you to do something, don’t back down or give up, because He says in due course you will reap a harvest. Nothing is impossible with God’s help and God has already prepared the way before we ever arrived on planet earth. 

He just wants each one of us to take the step of faith to walk into it and then He can show us the way forward.😊 Amen.

Have a blessed weekend.x😊

OUR COMFORT ZONE

Philippians 3:13-14 NLT … 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.

There’s probably something in all of us that just wants to be comfortable but there’s more to life than our comfort zone!😊The trouble is we can be trapped in it because we’re afraid to risk stepping into the unknown! There are times though when God ruffles our nest and asks us if we’re willing to give it up so His plan and blessings can be worked out in our lives.

It helps to remember we’re not our own, but we belong to God because He bought us with the blood of Jesus. 

God asks us to obey His instructions and walk by faith not by sight, which will challenge our comfort zone, but then He says this, Philippians 4:13 NKJV I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.😊 So we can do it with His strength, not our own, knowing our faith moves us forward, it never goes backwards.

As I thought about it, I remembered the Holy Spirit is our Comforter, and when we’re in the will of God then that is our true comfort zone. It’s easy to be misled into thinking it’s a place, a way of life, a set of people but it’s much more than that!

It may surprise us but God uses people of all ages when He asks us to do what He wants us to do! Moses was told at 80 to lead a nation, Caleb at 85 took his mountain and conquered it. Samuel was just a small boy who was led to become a great prophet, David was a teenager when he took on Goliath. Deborah was a judge in Israel, probably middle aged, who led an army into victory.

Be encouraged, God still has plans and purposes for all of us. It’s a life of faith and He’s given us His strength and His faith so we can please Him. It may just mean giving up the comfort of our bed a bit earlier to spend some time with God, or to do something different, or move somewhere else but all He asks is a willingness to trust Him and step out of our comfort zone when He asks us to.😊 Amen.