New Blog Post: “God Corrects Us”

Hebrews 12:6 AMP ‘The Lord corrects and disciplines everyone He loves.’

Prayer

Lord Jesus, I want to thank You for correcting me in my walk with You. This has helped me to grow spiritually; knowing You are totally committed to me helps me want to be obedient to Your sovereign will. You are dealing with me correctively and are leading me in in a way I don’t understand, but I will continue to place my trust in You and I ask You to increase my faith in Jesus Christ my precious Lord.

I have a firm grip on Your love for me now, and I am convinced that nothing could ever separate me from God’s love. Those whom You (dearly and tenderly) love will tell me my faults and You will convict and convince, reprove and chasten me in Your love. I praise and thank You for this.

The desires I have within my heart is not to be unruly anymore. I want to walk a life of total obedience with Jesus Christ depending upon Him for all of my needs. I ask for the help of the Holy Spirit of God who enables and empowers me with His supernatural power and strength to do this. Thank You for Your blessings which You have in store for me and I will trust You for the rest in Christ Jesus my precious Lord. Amen.

Lessons to be Learnt

If you want to grow spiritually, first you have to have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ and through the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit of God. You must want to live a life of total obedience to God and be consistent in surrendering your life daily to Him. This is a matter of choice and no one can make you do something you do not want to do. It is your choice to make the decision and whatever decision you come to may it be pleasing to God. God will not make you do anything you do not want to do He leaves all the choices to us. Having a firm foundation in Jesus Christ being rooted and grounded in Him helps and convinces us that nothing will ever separate us from God’s love as long as we place our trust in Him.

In Revelation 13:19 AMP says, “Those whom I (dearly and tenderly) love, I tell their faults, and convict and convince reprove and chasten.” The strongest evidence of God’s love and approval for you is the fact that He convicts and corrects us when we do things wrong. God does not change anyone of His rules to please individual people His rules are written for each one of us to follow. In Colossians 3:23-25 NCV says: In all the work you are doing work the best you can. Work as if you were doing it for the Lord, not for people. Remember that you will receive your reward from the Lord, which He promised to His people. You are serving the Lord Christ. But remember that anyone who does wrong will be punished for that wrong, and the Lord treats everyone the same.

New Blog Post: “God Works in You”

Philippians 2:13 NIV “For it is God who works in you.”

Prayer

O my precious God, You work your love and power within me according to Your purpose. I thank and praise You for all Your faithfulness to me. Every step I take is synchronized with the beat of the Holy Spirit of God within me. Nothing is more important to me than keeping pace with Him. God You work in me to will and to act according to Your good purpose.

You work through me as I engage my mind, open my mouth, move my feet and use my hands to do what You have already put into my heart. You have given me the ability to perform Your will. I have walked in obedience and moved out to do Your will in faith, step-by- step empowering me as I go.  Grant me the same responses and discernment Jesus has. My walk with You, O God, is the only satisfying relationship I have and You alone are the One who can fulfill Your purpose for me, as I am willing to do whatever You ask of me. May Your name be magnified, glorified and exalted in the precious name of Jesus Christ my precious Lord. Amen.

Lessons to be Learnt

We must not compartmentalise our lives by saying, ‘In this category I’m going to do things in my way, but in that category I’m going to be led by God.’ Every step we take has to synchronize with the beat of the Holy Spirit of God. This is so important to keep in step with Him. God works in us to will and to act according to His purpose. God changes our mind-set we once had when we lived in the world, to the mind-set we now have in Christ. Reading the Word of God changes our hearts and mind and we learn to see the characteristics, nature, personality, and the very nature of God as He unfolds His truth to us. This does not happen overnight. We must desire to want to know God more. In 2 Corinthians 5:17-18 NCV it says, ‘If anyone belongs to Christ, there is a new creation. The old things have gone’ everything is made new! All this is from God. Through Christ, God made peace between us and Himself, and God gave us the work of telling everyone about the peace we can have with Him.’  The moment you say ‘Yes’ to God He gives you the ability to perform His will. Notice, He does not reveal His will first but He expects you to move out and obey Him and He will reveal it step-by-step, empowering you as you go. Every day God is in the business of developing us into a greater likeness of His Son. He gives us individual experiences and put us into situations that will mature us to the point where we have the same attitude, the same responses and the same discernment as Jesus, this takes on a whole new meaning and the walk we have with Him will only be the walk that will satisfy us.

New Blog Post: In Touch Magazine – Charles Stanley

“The Blessings of Inadequacy”

2 Corinthian’s 3:4-6 NCV We can say this, because through Christ we feel certain before God. We are not saying that we can do this work ourselves. It is God who makes us able to do all that we do. He made us able to be servants of a new agreement from Himself to His people. This new agreement is not a written law, but it is of the Spirit. The written law brings death, but the Spirit gives life.

Life is filled with struggles that reveal our human inadequacy: Physical problems leave us week and unable to cope; relational troubles bring confusion and stress; continual battles with bad habits and addictions make us feel defeated; and financial pressures damage our self-worth. No one likes challenges that are too big to handle, but God can use them for our good.

Maybe you have never considered inadequacy a blessing. After all, it stirs up all sorts of uncomfortable emotions that make us feel insignificant and weak. But God can turn the negatives into blessings if we acknowledge our helplessness, depend on His strength, and step into our challenges with confidence in Him.

Inadequacy can be a blessing since it:

·         Drives us to God as we recognize our helplessness.

·         Relieves us of the burden of trying to do God’s will in our own strength.

·         Motivates us to live in the power of the Holy Spirit.

·         Provides an opportunity for the Lord to demonstrate what He can do.

·         Increases our usefulness to God by replacing pride with humility.

·         Allows Christ to receive all the glory.

·         Gives us peace as we rely on Him.

Through the power of the Holy Spirit, believers have the ability to endure difficulty and accomplish whatever the Lord calls them to do. By claiming the adequacy of Christ, we can face every circumstance with a sense of confidence – not in ourselves but in God, who is capable.

New Blog Post: “Let God Lead You”

Psalm 32:8 KJV “I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way thou shalt go.”

Prayer

Father God, I desire for You to take me out of my comfort zone. I relinquish my plans back to You in Jesus’ name. I know my plans are imperfect, but You know my heart’s desire and You have promised to work out everything for my good and for Your glory.

I ask for Your ideas and direction and I will follow Your instructions and plans. I will be persistent in following You and I will not run ahead of You. I know it is impossible for me to follow You without Your presence being within me. When I feel uncomfortable and dissatisfied in my soul and spirit I know You are stirring me up to jump out of the nest enabling me to put my trust in You. You give me strength, courage, power and faith to encourage me to do this.

I know without Jesus I can do nothing, but in Christ Jesus, I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.  Amen. 

Lessons to be Learnt

God has taught me to trust Him. When I felt I didn’t have enough faith to trust the plans He had for my life I would pray and ask God to increase my faith and put the confidence within my heart to enable me to believe in Him.  This has taken me many years of being persistent with God through prayer. It takes time for God to develop our faith with Him. He wants His children to have willing hearts and open up our hearts so He can instruct and teach us the way He wants us to go. Allowing God to have access in all the areas of our lives is the sensible thing to do. He gives us wisdom, insight, knowledge, understanding to do what is right in accordance to His will but He will never go anywhere He is not invited to go. We must want to step out of our comfort zone and trust Him that He knows best what is right for us. The Lord says in Isaiah 43:18-19 NCV “Forget what happened before and do not think about the past. Look at the new thing I am going to do. It is already happening. Don’t you see it? I will make a road in the desert and rivers in the dry land.” God gives us everything we need to fulfil the plans He has made for us we must follow His instructions and plans. He will enable and empower us from heaven above. He is persistent in His leading; this is why time is on our side.

New Blog Post: “Don’t Be Negative”

Romans 15:13 NLT So I pray that God, who gives you hope, will keep you happy and full of peace as you believe in Him. May you overflow with hope through the power of the Holy Spirit?

Prayer

Father, You have forgiven me all my sins, past and present. In the precious name of Jesus He took my punishment upon Himself, and paid the price for my sin debt in full. He has washed and purified me through His shed Blood and set me free making me righteous in Himself.  He has accomplished this through my faith and belief in Him. How grateful I am to You O God for rescuing and setting me free to have a relationship with You.

Father, thank You for shining Your light into the darkness of my life and showing me I have a spirit of doubt and a spirit of unbelief. I lay down these sins on the altar to the Cross once and for all. I ask You to forgive me and to deliver me so that these sins will have no more hold upon me anymore. Jesus, You do not hold my sin against me so neither do I. I will not listen to these evil lies any longer.

You O Lord have filled me with Your hope and You will keep me happy and full of peace because I believe and trust in You. May I be filled afresh and anew with the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit of God, from the top of my head to the tips of my toes? May His love and power overflow with hope and love within me, enabling me to bring all the honour, glory and praise to my Heavenly Father through Jesus Christ my precious Lord. Amen.

Lessons to be Learnt

We should never be ashamed of talking about the Good News of Christ to other people. It is when we ourselves have acknowledged we are sinners before God; we begin to see the truth of who God really is. He shines His Light into the darkness and where sin once was He unfolds the truth of His Word within our hearts and He exposes the darkness within us.

Jesus has already paid our sin debt in full so we have no need to hold onto sins anymore.

The joy of His salvation reigns in us and we must get the Word of God out to others who may have been deceived as we once had. If we do not tell them the Good News about the Gospel of Christ, how will people ever know the truth? Yes, at times it can be hard to speak out especially to strangers, but God promised through the Holy Spirit of God He would give us what we need when we need it. Its God’s saving power at work saving everyone who believes – Jesus first and also the Gentiles. This good news tells us how God makes us right in His sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scripture say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life” (Romans 1:16-17 NLT).