P.U.S.H

Hey Guys I know I have been away forever, but today I thought I would share a post I rote for a groups I am part of called the Proverbs 31 Experience http://proverbs31experience.tumblr.com/ . We are a group of young women who are trying to live a life in light of the Word of God and to encourage one another along this journey of life and faith. :)  
Today I would like to talk about the idea of pushing forward in God's will rather than on your own. 
Over the last week  I have been thinking about the idea of when we cry out to God. Do we cry out when we are fed up? When we have tried it our way and now we want to ask God? Or when we just feel like things are not going how we think they should be. Or you may feel like you are at the end of your rope etc. 
This takes me to the story of the Fishermen in Luke 5, who had been out fishing all night and yet had nothing to show for their hard work; but 
 'When he (Jesus) had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”

What Simon said in verse 5 is key, He said "because you say so." Even though He could have said no that he was tired of trying.But because Jesus told him, Simon was obedient. 

It would have been easy for Simon to think that how could letting down the nets again make any difference but in that moment it changed everything( if you read on to verse 11, you will see this). 
The point I am trying to make is that when we get to the point where we would give up, we can keep on going because God will make a way. But the key is to P.U.S.H ( Pray Until Something Happens.) 

By pray I don't just mean pray, I mean continue to give God praise regardless of the situation, study the word, take a break from the world and listen to the voice of God and move in the will of the Lord. 
An analogy to illustrate the idea of Pushing is American Football. During training the players have to try and push the sled, if you are a rookie you may only take a few steps before you can't go any more, but the more you practice (P.U.S.H), the further you can go and when you are obedient to God's will, you will be able to push the sled to the touch down line. 


So this week I want to set us a little challenge:
when you at your door before you leave your house I want you to say aloud "God, I step into your plans.I trust that they'll be the best version of my future. I'll pursue them to please You. Then take your step out into your day. 
 
Please keep Nana and Patience in your prayers as they are in America 
Also please remember the homeless people as the weather gets colder 
If there are any other prayer points please get in touch 
I don't know what you are going through but I pray that God continue to guide, protect and speak into yours and your families lives.

5 Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”

6 When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. 

Satisfied

Hey all

I know I have been away from the blog for a long time now, but soon I will have more time, to be better at blogging more frequently.

I just wanted to share a song that has really been on my heart this week. This song has really hit me. I have been thinking about so many things about my future, about my job, family etc, that but I never stopped to be satisfied with Christ alone. Because really and truly, that is where my joy should could from, the One who is the lifted of my head through it all.

What really brought all this together, was a message I received from a friend this morning,the message was all about being thankful and I realised (without being boastful) that I have soo much to be thankful, that I should be satisfied with all I have and anything extra is not what I deserve but what God has so graciously chosen to bestow upon me.

Have a bless week

       xx

Good Friday

Good Friday, a day we call 'good' because of the joy of what is to come on Sunday, yet in that very moment as Christ Followers watched as he took His last breath and left their world. It would have been a sad day, your teacher, the Christ was gone.


Imagine earlier in the same week they had shared in the Passover meal together and now he was gone. And Jesus what a man, knowing what He had been called to did not waver in faith or choose to disobey His Father, but carried out the command in order that we may have a new life.
Truly how deep is the Father's love for us?

"This is the kind of life you’ve been invited into, the kind of life Christ lived. He suffered everything that came his way so you would know that it could be done, and also know how to do it, step-by-step.
Not once said anything amiss.

He never did one thing wrong,

They called him every name in the book and he said nothing back. He suffered in silence, content to let God set things right. He used his servant body to carry our sins to the Cross so we could be rid of sin, free to live the right way. His wounds became your healing." ( 1 Peter 2:21-24) 

day 10

Over the last couple of days I have shared my experience of the Daniel Fast and as I come to this my last day, I have had time to reflect and think upon many things.

This fast has helped me to see many things in a new light and to personally take some much need time to seek the Lord more intently and closer than I had been to in the past couple of months.

If I said that this fasting period has fixed all the problems in my life I would be lying, but it has allowed me to view situations in a new light that has given me hope and faith that God will always come through. :)

Prayer (day 9)

Happy Sunday (day 8)

I haven't really got anything to say today, but the 2 songs below sum up my day. 

Patience (day 7)

As this fast has gone along, it has helped me to realise how much time I had been wasting on useless things when I could have been making my days more productive. Because there are certain foods I can eat, I try to plan my meals ahead of time and cook ahead of time so that I won't be as tempted to break my fast because I'm really hungry or craving cake lol.

So to the title of today Patience, during the course of the day, I had to help a family member out with some computer work ans tasks. At first I was a little annoyed because I wanted to enjoy my own time and here was doing someones work for them. But them I just to my eye off myself and realised the situation was about me, this person really needed my help. Once I realised this I felt like I could even do more for them than I had already done, Long story short by the grace of God alone, they were able to finish the work in time for their job.

People always say patience is a virtue, or you have to learn to just tolerate some people. I don't agree as humans we are not allows patience and we don't like everyone but, patience is a fruit of the Spirit, Galatians 5:22-25 'God’s Spirit makes us loving, happy, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, 23 gentle, and self-controlled. There is no law against behaving in any of these ways. 24 And because we belong to Christ Jesus, we have killed our selfish feelings and desires. 25 God’s Spirit has given us life, and so we should follow the Spirit,' (CEV).

On our own at time we may find it hard to be patience with people, but we need to let the spirit work in our lives. We need to see people as God sees them, seeing passed there looks and behaves to their hearts and their needs.

Being patience is hard, and it is still a fruit of the Spirit that I am learning to cultivate , but today I really learnt something. 

The words of a friend (Day 6)

Today I felt truly blessed, I was getting into the swing of the fast and real focusing my mind. To make my day two friends blessed me with words of encouragement but also food for thought.

I can not stress how important it is to have good friends but also good friends of the faith, that you know would understand what you are going through with your faith and today I realised again how important that was to my life. 

I am going to be real with y'all, I am the kinda of person that I don't share my problems or feelings with hardly anyone but God and that is how I have always been, but I know that I times I need a friend who I can turn to and ask for advice and scriptural encouragement. 

After being blessed by my friends the verses that came to mind were: 

Proverbs 17:17 A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.

Proverbs 27:17 Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.

Proverbs 16:24 Kind words are like honey they cheer you up and make you feel strong.

The cost of being a disciple (day 5)

As I had said earlier that I had been find this fast hard at times, well this sermon from Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church gave me some encouragement and showed another side of being a disciple.

The Barriers are in your mind (day 4)

This reading really spoke to me today.

The Barriers Are in Your Mind

‘…He has sent me to proclaim freedom…recovery…release…favour.’

Luke 4:18-19 NIV

The UCB Word for Today - 5 Feb 2014

Jesus said that He came to bring freedom to those held captive by destructive habits, to give sight to those who are spiritually blind, to lift up those who’ve been put down, and to announce that the time of God’s favour toward us has come. If you look closely at ancient maritime maps you will see places which are marked with pictures of dragons. Sailors who explored the world wouldn’t go there. Were the dragons real? No, but they were real in the minds of the sailors. Picture a barracuda in a big tank at Sea World in Florida. A glass barrier divides one half from the other. Each time the barracuda tries to swim from one end of the tank to the other, he bumps into it. And here’s an interesting thing: even when the barrier’s taken away, the barracuda still won’t swim beyond that point. Why? Because the barrier is in his mind! Satan will place barriers in your mind and say you can’t go beyond a certain point in life; you can’t dream beyond it, or reach beyond it. Don’t believe him! Jesus said satan is a liar and the father of lies. But a lie is as effective as the truth if you believe it and act on it. With God there are no limits, just unlimited power. The Bible is filled with stories of little people, limited people, lack-lustre people, and, in some cases, low-life people who penetrated the barriers beyond which they thought they couldn’t go, and God used them to do amazing things. And He can do that for you too.

I know the future (day 3)

During this time of fasting I have been seeking the Lord about many things, most of which have to do with my future.

This morning as I was praying, I was given this verse 

"Remember the things I have done in the past.For I alone am God! I am God, and there is none like me.

10 Only I can tell you the future before it even happens.
Everything I plan will come to pass, for I do whatever I wish"(Isaiah 46:9-10) 

and I just felt at peace, that even though I don't have all the answers or know what is yet to come, I know the God that has kept me and made a way for me in the past. 

The old song says ' count your blessing name them one by one and it will surprise you what the Lord has done'. When things in life are not going to plan it can be hard to have hope or to think God is even listening to your prayer. But when you start thinking on all the good that has gone before or the amazing things that you know have happened in your life that only God could have done, then it gives you hope to trust God to bring you through this storm. 

In the storm it can be hard to see or even stayed focused but when you see the light from the Lighthouse you know where to focus to find safety and it is the same thing with us and us. We may be in a storm of life right now but God is our Lighthouse guiding us through 

The way I have been living (day 2)

So day 1 was a little hard, but day 2 started off a lot better my mind felt more focused and this was evident in my day as I didn't think about food that much but spent a little more time in prayer and in reading my Bible. 

I was studying Haggai 1 today. This chapter looks at the call to rebuild the temple after the 70 years in captivity. The Israelites had returned to their own land and had started returning to normal life, build their own homes and making sure life was comfortable. But yet they had not even started work  on the Lord's house. 

Verses 5-7 really struck me as it really made me think about the way I had been living recently and how I had gotten into a really selfish mindset. 

I had gotten into the habit of giving in to my food cravings and focusing my mind on my problems, when I knew better. 

Throughout the rest of the day I was just meditating on this Chapter and reflecting upon my life

Sometimes reflection is key!

I can't (day 1)

Today was the 1st day of the fast and I realised that I was focusing on all the "I can't".

I kept thinking and saying that I can't eat this or I can't eat that and it was starting to get to me already because in my mind I already thought that I wouldn't be able to go the 10 days.

However I remembered that this fast wasn't about what I couldn't have but it was about focusing my time and my thoughts on the Lord and spending more time seeking the Lord.

So going forward in this fast I am going to forget about my craving, but instead pray and praise my way through.
:-)

Daniel fast

Happy New Month‼ I can't believe that we are in February already.

So I am starting my month a lil differently, I am doing the Daniel Fast for the next 10 days I started yesterday (2nd Feb) and I have decided that I am going to try to blog everyday of this fast.

For those who don't know Daniel in the bible fasted twice in his book, in Daniel chapter 1 and 10.
I have decided to follow the principles of the fast in chapter 1.

So the next few days will be interesting.
:-)

Baby it's cold outside

Ok so this is a random post I had a New Year's post already but felt to share this one instead, interesting thing is I wrote part of this post ages ago and reading it today taught me something I had forgotten.  

I don't know if its only me but once its winter I like staying in and curling up on the sofa, out of the cold and damp air.

Now this post is not about weather but it is inspired by it.

When life is looking horrible and things just don't seem to be going right, it can be easy to sit at home with a tub of ice cream and chocolate bars and watch movies all day, but doing that doesn't make any thing better.  

Its like listening to sad songs when you are already sad its not gonna make you feel better; but allows you to wallow in that state.

The disciples had a moment like this after the death of Jesus, some went back to what they knew before as their leader was now gone.  Many of them may have thought that that was the end but it wasn't. 

When the weather of life gets rough its not the time to get cosy or retreat to the familiar but it is the time to face them. God can and will give you more than you can handle(1 Corinthians 13:10) but He gives you the tools to deal with it as Matthew 7:7(NLT) says 'keep on' .

Test and trails are not to try and see if we make the cut, they are there to draw us closer to the heart of God and build us up in faith. 

If everything in life right now seem dark and grey, don't give up hope, winter only lasts for a season. :)

Come thou long expected Jesus

Merry Christmas !!! Blessing and goodwill to all. 

Just thought to share something that came to me while reading about the Birth of Christ this morning. 

I wanted to quickly share a I thought I had about the birth of Christ,  Luke 2:7 says 
"And she gave birth to her Son, her Firstborn; and she wrapped Him in swaddling clothes and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room or place for them in the inn."

In most nativity plays you see, there are always inn keepers who say " sorry there is no room in the inn", but this is never stated in the Bible. That aside, the point I wanted to make it is, that as the Saviour of the world was about to be born there was no room anywhere for him to enter, and this made me think of Revelation 3:20  'Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears and listens to and heeds My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will eat with him, and he [will eat] with Me' 

When the Saviour of the world was about to be born, Joseph stood knocking looking for room but no one received them for they did not know who what about to be birthed into this world, and we see here at the end of the Bible, that Christ says he is standing and waiting for us to receive Him. 

My mind then went to the wise men who were travelling they were seeking what they had been hoping for, this was faith in action, they had studied the stars and the words of the prophets and were now seeking " the Child born King of the Jews" (Matthew 2:2)
And  we see in Matthew 7 that if you seek you shall find, the wise men could have given up on their Journey when it got hard travelling in the desert but the kept going till the found Jesus (not in the manger,  have a look look at Matthew 2:11) 

So... this Christmas time, take another look at the story of the birth of our Saviour, and as you read think about, what are you seeking after in your life; is it your Christmas gift and possessions, a Husband, Mum's home cooking etc. Whatever it is where does seeking after Christ come on that list. Christ was born to bring salvation to heal the broken, helpless and the poor, we should be seeking after the heart of God. 

Think about how far have you let Christ into your heart, is He knocking at the door and you are just a little scared to let him into your life or into all areas of your life, don't be afraid because Christ comes with love and as the hymn, O little town of Bethlehem states; "Where meek souls will receive Him still, The dear Christ enters in. 

However you celebrate the birth of Christ I hope you have fun and enjoy this festive time of year :)  Merry Christmas

These walls I've built

As humans we create ways to cope with life and for the most part it is through create the person we want other to see us as and this often means that we build up walls to stop people seeing whats really in our hearts and what we are really about.

Like Shakespeare said  "All the world's a stage and we are all mere actors", To some extent this is true as on a day to day basis you have a routine that builds you up to face the world such as never leaving the house without your make-up being on. Also when you enter different sphere of life you alter your behave , for example how you speak at work may not be how you talk when you are out with your friends or when you are at church.

In general we tend to compartmentalise our lives in to section, so in a way putting everything in to box so we keep order. and there is nothing wrong with order but sometimes orders blocks us from having the relationships we should or from reaching the dreams we had.

A very popular example I have seen time and time again, is when I person gets hurt in one relationship, they take that hurt into the next relationship but they build up a little wall around their heart to stop them getting hurt again. But they still get hurt and that wall gets higher and higher. Until they can't love or show emotions any more.

the problems with walls you build yourself is that once you build all four sides than how do you get out, you can't run through them, can't climb over them and the cement has dried so you can't just tear them down

we say people label us and people fence us into boxes; but we do it to ourselves, because we don't want to be hurt any more.
Well the truth is we have to start by looking at ourselves and asking the harder questions of why we have closed ourselves of from others. And I know this can hurt, I have personally been through this but when you let Jesus in, He will be with you and help you break down those walls.

A video that sums up what I have been saying:

Just cos it's friday :)

Fearless

Taken From Word For You Today December 5th 2012 
Living Fearlessly 
“You are my servant; I have chosen you.” Isa 41:9 NIV 
Have you ever wondered how animal trainers can control a five-ton elephant and keep it from running away? They do it by controlling the animal’s thinking. When a baby elephant is being trained, a rope is put around its leg and then tied to a wooden post secured in the ground. The elephant, which is not yet very strong, pulls at the rope but is unable to break it or to pull up the post. Eventually it gives up. From that point forward when the elephant’s leg is secured it believes it cannot get away—even though it is fully capable of escaping, and has been for a long time. It remembers its struggle. That’s one reason it’s said, “Elephants never forget.” And we are like that too. Our thinking limits us, just as an elephant’s does. Usually it’s because of fear. The truth is, fear can steal your dreams. You may be afraid of failure. You may be afraid of rejection. You may not want to make a fool of yourself. You may be afraid of trying because you believe you can’t succeed. If you give in to these thoughts and believe that you can’t achieve your dream, you’ll be right—and therefore unable to achieve your dream. Often what we fear has no connection to reality. But here’s the good news: fear can be overcome. The first step to overcoming it is to believe God when He says about you: “You are my servant; I have chosen you…do not fear, for I am with you…I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” (vv. 9-10 NIV).

Fear, a four letter word that can simply end you life before it begins. Now I know there is good fear 'fear of the Lord'. But that is not what I am talking about, I am talking about that fear that makes you question everything you do, always asking what if or maybe I shouldn't.

If you are always fearing, then you are not living.
A great example of fearlessness in the Bible is Daniel, he prayed openly and would not bow to the God of the land he was in. He did this to the point that it caused him to be put in the lions den, now I'm sure anyone put in a room of lions would be afraid, lions can kill you! Yet Daniel was not harmed by the lions; and WHY you ask, because he put his faith in the Lord who could deliver him.

God can overcome any fear that you are facing but first you must trust God when He says ,"God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfil?" (Numbers 23:19) God is not a man that he should lie. So if He said it then believe it.

What is the fear you are battling with today, give it God because he is surely bigger than anything that's stopping you from fulfilling your purpose for His Kingdom

Hi again :)

I know it has been a really long time since I have posted a new blog post and today I don't have much to say but I just want to remind you all that the Lord loves you and knows and cares about all things that concern you. 

So have a blessed day xx