Monday 30 September 2013

New Blog Post: "Morning By Morning – Charles H. Spurgeon"



 “Thus saith the LORD God; I will yet for this be enquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them.” (Ezekiel 36:37)

Prayer is the forerunner of mercy. Turn to sacred history, and you will find that scarcely ever did a great mercy come to this world unheralded by supplication. You have found this true in your own personal experience; God has given you many an unsolicited favour, but still great prayer has always been the prelude of great mercy with you. When you first found peace through the blood of the cross, you had been praying much, and earnestly interceding with God that He would remove your doubts, and deliver you from your distresses. Your assurance was the result of prayer. When at any time you have had high and rapturous joys, you have been obliged to look upon them as answers to your prayers. When you have had great deliverances out of sore troubles, and mighty helps in great dangers, you have been able to say, “I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.” Prayer is always the preface to blessing. It goes before the blessing as the blessing’s shadow. When the sunlight of God’s mercies rises upon our necessities, it casts the shadow of payer far down upon the plain. Or, to use another illustration, when God piles up a hill of mercies, He Himself shines behind them, and He casts on our spirits the shadow of prayer, so that we may rest certain, if we were much in prayer, our pleadings are the shadows of mercy. Prayer is thus connected with the blessing to show us the value of it. If we had the blessings without asking for them, we should think them common things; but prayer makes our mercies more precious than diamonds. The things we ask for are precious, but we do not realize their preciousness until we have sought for them earnestly.

“Prayer makes the darken’d cloud withdraw;
Prayer climbs the ladder Jacob saw;
Gives exercise to faith and love;
Brings every blessing from above.”

Friday 27 September 2013

New Blog Post: "Restored"





Job 42: 11 NIV The Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the first.

Joel 2:25-27 NIV “I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten – the great locust and the young locust, and the other locusts and the locust swarm -  My great army that I sent among you. You will have plenty to eat, until you are full, and will praise the name of the Lord your God, who has worked wonders for you; never again will My people be shamed. Then you will know that I am in Israel, that I am the Lord Your God, and that there is no other; never again will My people be shamed.”

For many years I felt I have been robbed. I knew I had not walked a godly life but once I made my peace with God my relationship began to change and grow in faith with the Lord Jesus Christ. I did have a desire to walk a life which was holy, righteous and godly. I wanted God to clean me and restore me and to take hold of me and do whatever He needed to do within me to get me into the right place with Him.
It is not easy being disciplined by God and it does hurt when we have to face the truth of who we are. One thing I have learnt from God’s discipline it has saved my life. My life now is peaceful, joyous and I am happier than I have ever been before. God is moulding and shaping me into the person He wants me to become.
We have to invite and give God the permission to work in our lives He does not go anywhere where He is not invited. My own personal experience is that I have become a better person because I asked God to take the control of my life fully through the Lord Jesus Christ and through the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit of God.
In Hebrews 12:5-6 NIV And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when He rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those He loves; and He punishes everyone He accepts as a son.”
I am thankful to God for disciplining me. He has done this for my own good. He would not do anything to hurt or harm me. He has used everything within my life which has been wrong and is putting it right. All I desire is to be is obedient to love God with all of my heart and to follow the Lord Jesus Christ forever and always.
God has reinstated and re-established my life with Him. He has told me the latter part of my life is going to be more fruitful than the earlier days of my labour. He is going to repay to me the years the locust has stolen from me. He is sending me grain, new wine and oil, enough to satisfy me fully; never again will He make me an object of scorn to the nations. I am beginning a new section of my life by turning from destruction caused by the locusts to the blessings God has given to me through repentance from my sin. He responds to the prayers I petition and He arouses Himself to defend His honour. He is mine inheritance I am His special possession through Jesus Christ my precious Lord. What an honour it is to serve the living God, I do not deserve His love and faithfulness towards me but know that His love, mercy and grace are within my life. All the glory honour and praise I give to God through the Lord Jesus Christ my precious Lord.

Wednesday 25 September 2013

New Blog Post: "Comfort My People"



Deuteronomy 31:8 NIV The LORD Himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.

God is a real comfort to me and has taken care of all my needs in a very special way. Having God’s present with me wherever I go really has encouraged me. Knowing He will never leave nor will He ever forsake me has helped me to cope with my everyday life. He has given me the reassurance and confidence that everything in my life that has been wrong is going to be put right.
The fear I’d had before I knew God has gone. In its place God has given me contentment and is in the process of changing me and making me become the person He wants me to become. I praise and thank God He is doing this in me and for me. I want to become the person God has created me to be a new creation created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God has before ordained that I should walk in Him.
I pray many will see the transition within my life and many will come to know the glory of God’s kingdom through my witness and testimony. All I want to do is to bring honour, praise and glory to God through Jesus Christ my precious Lord this is so important to me to glorify Him.
When God says He will take care of His children’s needs He most certainly has done this for me. He gives me security, relief and I am relaxed knowing I do not have to be anxious or troubled anymore all I have to do is believe in Him. He is with me whatever I have to face through the Holy Spirit of God; He gives me His wisdom and understanding showing me how to handle my situations and circumstances.
Last month I had to go through one of the greatest trials with God. I had no idea how this trial was going to work out. My sister is a ‘Born Again Christian’, had four aneurysms on her brain then one night one of aneurysms ruptured. I received a phone call from my nephew who is a pilot. He had flown to Serbia with his airline. He rang me from this country with the news about my sister. He was absolutely devastated. He was unable to get to her bedside in Zurich. His flight out of Serbia did not leave until the next morning so you can imagine how anxious he became. I tried to comfort him and told him I would pray for the whole situation and get other Christians to pray for them too.
I prayed and asked God to get her son to her bed-side before my sister went into the operating theatre the next morning because I knew how important it was for her son and for her. God was faithful to me and He answered my prayer for him. My sister had a fifty-fifty chance to live. She was on the critical list for many days, but God in His faithfulness has done a miracle within her life and her husband and child has seen the glory of God through her. I prayed fervently to the Lord never giving up believing God was in the midst of her and He would bring her through the danger zone. I am still praying for her recovery. Each stage of her recovery has been prayed over and God in His faithfulness to her has taken care of every need she has.
What really comforted me was when I went to buy a card for her. I picked up a card with the words in Jeremiah 30:17 NIV But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds, declares the Lord. When I saw these words I just knew my sister was going to be alright. God had allowed this to happen for a purpose and reason, we don’t always understand why these things happen to us at the time but already God has done great and marvellous works through this situation for my sister and her family.
My sister’s son has dedicated his life to God and has a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. The transition God has made within my nephew’s life is absolutely remarkable. My prayers have been answered for my sister and for my nephew. His dad has still yet to make a commitment to the Lord as far as I know. I do not think he has but only he can make this decision and so I continue to pray for him that the joy of God’s Salvation will come to him at God’s appointed time. The choice is between him and His Maker. I take my hands off him through Jesus Christ my precious Lord.