Panic!!

Panic sets in when we take a situation, which is more than we can handle, into our own hands and realise that we cannot fix it. Sometimes we can just be overwhelmed by a feeling of fear. It builds and builds and everything becomes difficult and daunting, we lose focus, lose vision and a state of panic creeps in. I have heard someone say that "fear" stands for False Evidence Appearing Real.

In that moment we cannot think straight. Everything is overwhelming and we grab around to every possible solution. We have to fix this and we have to save this now! In our state of panic our issues becomes urgent, immediately, desperately urgent. We feel as if the world is going to fall apart if we don't do something right now! We phone people in a flustered state, we leave work or home in anxiousness. It feels as if you cannot cope with anything and everything sets off your emotions.

 “for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” 2 Timothy 1:7

“And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but He was asleep. And they went and woke Him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing. And He said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then He rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.” Matthew 8:24-26

“There is no panic in Heaven! God has no problems, only plans.” - Corrie ten Boom

Take a moment to breathe, don't do anything rash and think about what you know and Who you know. Jesus is asleep in your boat and there's no need to fear. You don't have to have your answer right now, it's ok, you'll live and you'll survive. Even repeat the verses to yourself over and over again. He is with you to calm the storm and if He doesn't calm the storm, then He'll calm you. He doesn't have to say a word, because we know that He is with us and that He will calm the storm before the boat sinks. He will direct our steps and we do not need to make our own paths. We do not need to worry constantly about what we are doing and if we are doing the right thing. We just need to keep our eyes on Him and He will open and close the doors for us. He will instruct us and lead us to safety. If He has spoken to you then respond in obedience, if not then wait patiently, thanking and praising Him for who He is.  

Panic is effectively a lack of trust. We stop trusting that God can handle the situation and we take control. If you have areas of panic and fear in your life, lay them down before God. Choose to let the burden of your worries go and trust God that He will see you through. If you do not know how to give your situation to God then just ask Him to show you how to do it and pray in tongues often. He does not want us to live in a state of panic, but in complete peace.

Jesus said: “I am leaving you with a gift--peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don't be troubled or afraid.” John 14:27

“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” 2 Corinthians 12:9

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Have you been bullied?

Bullying has become an increasing problem in schools today and is becoming more of a topic as awareness is being raised. It is shocking to look at the teen suicide rate and school shootings often related to bullying. Unfortunately this does not always end on the school ground, but can continue at universities, offices, friendship circles or even at home with parents. Sometimes we don't even need a second person in the equation, we just bully ourselves with our harsh thoughts or critical attitudes. 

Bullying takes on many forms and you might have been a victim without even realising it. The effects of bullying can break down your character, confidence, steal your joy and often be long-lasting. It is not something to be taken lightly. As adults we can look back and identify how these incidents changed the way that we perceive ourselves. Built-in lies from our childhood play over and over in our heads. Often we are so used to it that we don't even realise that the thought patterns are there.

These lies limit us physically, emotionally and spiritually and instil fear and doubt. It robs us of our childlike courage and determination and it forces us to settle for less. There's nothing worse than settling for less, because you don't think that you are worth more.

But you are valuable! Jesus didn't die on a cross so that you can settle for less and live with a poverty mindset. We are the children of a King and we have a great inheritance. Even though we deserved nothing, He gave us everything by His grace and mercy. We were not created to live downcast lives as per other peoples' opinions. We were created to live life and life in abundance in all the plans that God has for us. Jesus didn't die so that we should be limited. He came to set us free! He came to make us whole. He came to heal our brokenness. He came to teach us who we are in Him and what we can become. We are all unique and beautiful, created, formed and designed for a purpose beyond our imagination. Jesus takes us places!

He doesn't care what your school bully or friends said. He doesn't care what your mother or father said. He cares about you and values what He thinks about you and knows about you. He needs no second opinion. He knows what He destined you for and no one can take that from you. No one can steal your identity from you if you are rooted in Jesus. He is everything we need to be everything we can be.

I know that those harsh words are painful. I know that they have caused deep wounds and thought patterns, but nothing is too deep for God. Bring these thoughts to Him, bring these hurts to Him. He heals the pain and restores beautifully. You don't need to be anybody else, just be the beautiful you that He created you to be. Don't live according to other peoples' opinions of yourself, get God's opinion and live limitless!

“You are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you.” Song of Solomon 4:7

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:10

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” 2 Corinthians 5:17

PS. If you are a victim, please speak to someone, even though it is hard, please reach out to someone. You might think that no one cares, but believe me, God cares and if He cares then there’s someone else in this world that cares about you and will be willing to help you. He will not let you suffer alone. If you know of someone who is a victim, please reach out to them and support them. Make sure that you do not put yourself in harm’s way, but approach the situation with caution. You might be the only person who knows and cares. There are also help lines which you can phone, including suicide helplines. Please post a comment if you have tips or suggestions. Thank you all!

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Live while waiting

We have all had to wait for something in some or other stage in our lives. Whether it is for a holiday, promotion, a partner to love, provision, healing or a promise from God, waiting can be difficult. It can be a rollercoaster journey of highs and lows, where some days are better than others. People around you celebrate victories and blessings while it feels as if your life is standing still.

The thing that you are waiting for doesn't even have to be something big or maybe you are waiting for something to end rather than to start. We easily start developing the mentality of 'when' that thing ends or happens 'then' I will do this and that. Jesus says “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly” and that is what He has for us every day, no matter what circumstances we find ourselves in.

When we start putting life on hold because we are waiting, then we open a door for impatience, frustration and doubt to creep in and our days drag on. This happens when we take our eyes off life and God and we start focusing on the situation or the thing that we are waiting for. The trick is not to live waiting, but to live while waiting.

I'm reading Nick Vujicic's new book Unstoppable and he always says that if you haven't received your miracle (yet), be the miracle for others. His positive attitude has inspired millions of people, in spite of the fact that he was born without arms and legs. If you haven’t heard of him yet, I encourage you (and your children) to watch some of his videos on YouTube or read his books. He is truly an inspiration.

Decide today to make the best of each day, no matter what challenge you are going through. Waiting can be incredibly hard, but when we tap into the daily plan which God has for us we realise that there is joy to be found in every circumstance. It’s all about your attitude and the manner in which you approach your day. Do not allow your circumstances to isolate you from the life God has for you, rather reach out to God and others around you. If you are struggling, do not be discouraged, Paul says: “But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in (your) weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” 2 Cor 12:9-10

Do not let your days be dulled by waiting, but live as if you have received everything you need, because Jesus has already given us His strength, joy, peace and love so that we can live each day to the fullest.

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” James 1:2-4

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God is patient

 

Today I was thinking about how patient God is with us and how impatient we can sometimes be towards Him. We know that God's timing is perfect, but we ask "when, when, when?" and we become impatient and discouraged so quickly.

If I think back over the years, I can just thank God for how patient He has been with me. All the times that I didn't love Him the way I should've, listened to what He said or did what He asked me to do. He didn't ask me "when, when, when?" but patiently walked with me on my journey until I understood what He was saying or saw what He was busy doing and left my selfishness behind and obeyed His voice. He has always approached me with kindness and patience.

I thank God that He didn't give up on me, turned His back on me or withheld promises from me just because I didn't do everything that He asked me to do. How often do we want to give up on God, turn our backs on Him or get angry with Him just because He is not doing what we think He should be doing right now? Then a few weeks into the struggle we realise why He held back or why He didn't jump when we wanted Him to jump and we end up feeling embarrassed because of our impatience.

God is love and "Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." (1 Corinthians 13:4-7 ESV)

Look back at the times when He was there for you, where He showed you the way and led you through dark hours. He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow and He has shown us much patience, much more than we deserve. He patiently waited for you to follow and choose Him and He did not count your sin against you even if you have mocked or slandered His name. He has shown us unending mercy, kindness, grace and love.

Maybe today you feel as if you want to give up on God, that He is not coming through for you or that He is not being all that you believe He is. I want to encourage you that God IS love and He IS faithful and that He has never given up on you and He believes in you. Even if you don't see it yet or have been waiting for a long time, don't give up, He is for you and not against you. Find comfort in Him and know that He is your Father and that He has only the best in store for you. You can overcome any challenge with Him at your side and He will guide and comfort you through anything that life can throw your way.

"What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare Him own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things?" (Romans 8:31, 32 ESV)

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The problem of pain

I don’t think that I have one friend who has not at some stage of in life asked “why?”. Why did this happen? Why does it hurt so much? Many books have been written on pain and suffering and why it exists in the world and I recently read another one. I’m not going to suggest that I have the answer to it all and I’m not sure if anyone really has the perfect answer as each situation is different, but I’m going to offer a thought that will hopefully be encouraging.

When God created man, He gave him free will. We can thus choose to do what we want to do on this earth, but of course carry the consequences as well. God desires to have a real relationship with us and for a relationship to be real there must be a choice to love each other. God did not want to create robots and force them to love Him. God has already shown His love to us, but it is the choice of each person whether or not to reciprocate this love. God took this chance by allowing Jesus to die so that each person can be in a relationship with Him, but God has no guarantee that each person will eventually choose Him and consequently many people has rejected Him.

“but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Rom 5:8

Instead people have chosen to follow their own selfish desires of greed, lust, envy and power leading to betrayal, adultery, anger, murder, oppression, strife, rivalry, slander and any other action imaginable to obtain more of what they desire. God has not made man to be evil, but made man with a choice and whether he chooses good or evil, it’s his choice. Unfortunately every action mentioned above will inflict pain and suffering on a person as a result of someone else’s actions. It was not God’s intention to expose the world to pain and suffering, but Adam and Eve had a choice and they chose to bring evil into the world by listening to Satan and betraying God.

God cannot just remove evil from the world as this would leave man without free will and choice, but what He can do is send someone who can identify with us in all our pain and suffering and eventually take us to heaven where there are no more tears of pain and suffering. Jesus can identify with each one of us in every way and can comfort us and carry us through any situation. He went through it all so that He can be it all for us in our time of need. There is no pain or suffering that He cannot relate to and He thus knows how you feel.

“For we do not have a high priest (Jesus) who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Romans 4:15-16

Jesus endured the cross in order for Him to become our hope in our darkest hours. God will never leave us or forsake us. Jesus was left alone at the cross, crushed and forsook so that we can never be left alone, crushed or forsaken by God. He has once and for all reconciled us to God and no one can separate us from Him.

Be encouraged and know that God is with you and that Jesus knows exactly what you are going through and He is here to comfort you. He has no intention of leaving you to walk this road on your own even if it means carrying you through the darkest hours. “But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.” 2 Cor 12:9  

“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.” Psalm 23:4

Song: You never let go - Matt Redman

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Ask for a sign

The following four scriptures appear in the Bible:

Isaiah tells King Ahaz: “Ask a sign of the LORD your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” Isaiah 7:11

God says to Gideon: “And the Lord said to him, “But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.” And Gideon said to Him, “If now I have found favour in your eyes, then show me a sign that it is you who speak with me. Please do not depart from here until I come to you and bring out my present and set it before you.” And He said, “I will stay till you return.”” Judges 6:16-18

Jesus said to the scribes and Pharisees: “But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.” Matt 12:39

“And Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”” Luke 4:12

When you read these scriptures it might seem like the Bible contradicts itself. How can God tell King Ahaz to ask for a sign, but tell the scribes and Pharisees that an evil and adulterous generation asks for a sign? Also Jesus said that you shall not put god to the test. The way I understand it, is that it is all about the heart.

Gideon’s heart was right, he asked God for a sign saying that if God gives him the sign then he will do what God tells him to. Also see Judges 6:36-38. Gideon is willing to follow God and believe His word wholeheartedly, when God gives him the sign. God knows that Gideon is not testing Him. He knows that Gideon's motive is genuine and that whatever God proves through the sign, Gideon will do. If Gideon asks for a sign and God knows that even if He gives Gideon a sign, he still will not obey God, then Gideon is just mocking God and then God will probably give no sign as God will not be mocked and will not be tested.

The scribes and the Pharisees on the other hand were not looking for a sign to help them obey or follow God, they were looking for ways to test Jesus and to prove that He is not the Messiah. No amount of signs would have convinced them that the Son of God was standing in front of them, because their eyes were blind and their hearts were hard towards God. Asking for a sign was evil and adulterous as they were ready to test Jesus and to find something which to betray Him with. They call Him teacher, but they don’t believe that He is the Son of God and they seek any opportunity to find fault in Him. If you read the first part of chapter 12, you will find that Jesus just healed a man with a withered hand, a man who was demon possessed, blind and mute and everyone else who followed Him. All these miracles were done moments or hours before they asked Him for the sign and they still did not believe.

Jesus was also healing people on the Sabbath day, which was unlawful according to the Pharisees, as you were not allowed to work on the Sabbath. They might also have been asking for more signs in order to have more evidence to incriminate Him with. Point being, their motive and heart behind asking were evil and adulterous and Jesus knew that.

I have found that when I ask God for a sign I have to be serious about it or God will not respond. Let’s say that you want to ask God whether or not you should take a new job. If you tell Him that you will say “yes” if they phone on Monday and “no” if they phone on any other day of the week, then you have to be serious about it. If God knows that you will say “yes” no matter which day they phone, because in your heart you have already decided that you want the job, then He will most likely not give you the sign as He will not be mocked. You cannot ask God for a sign if you have already decided what you are going to do. It sounds silly, but God is not stupid and He can see your heart. If you are earnest, He will respond, but if He knows that you will not obey Him after He gives the sign, then He won’t give you a sign. He does not put Himself or you in that position. The problem is that we are sometimes too scared to ask for a sign, because we are scared of what the answer might be and we are scared that the answer will not be in line with what we want.

So if you want to ask God, be genuine, be honest with yourself and get your heart to a place where you know that whatever He asks you to do or whatever His answer is, you will follow and obey. When you get your heart to that point, then ask for a sign and I believe He will give it gladly. Do not be afraid to ask, even if His answer does not match your wants, rather know that He is good and He always has the best plans for His children.

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Not condemnation, but freedom

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him." (John 3:16, 17 ESV)

John 3:16 must be the most well known scripture and before I met Jesus, was the only scripture that I could quote from the Bible. This scripture popped up as the "verse of the day" when I opened my eBible today. Although I know verse 16 very well, I haven't read verse 17 as much and when I read it today, I felt to share the following.

God did not send His Son into the world to condemn us, but in order that we might be saved through Him. He sent Jesus so that we might be free and so that we might have life. Jesus says "The thief (Satan) comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." (John 10:10 ESV)

Jesus doesn't want to condemn people. People often think of condemnation when they think of Jesus, instead of freedom. Since the fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden the world has been condemned, they chose themselves over God and selfishness led them to turn their backs on God and His ways. They wanted to be better and more intelligent and they fell for the lie of Satan as he said that they would be like God if they ate from the tree and they will know good and evil. Instead they separated themselves from God by allowing evil into their pure hearts and their immortal spirits died.

How often do we still fall like this? No wonder we call it the "oldest trick in the book". How often does Satan whisper to us a false idea? "If you do this and that, then you will gain this and that. It won't hurt anyone, they won't even know, just slander that person, tell this lie, just take the praise for that and give the blame there." It's in our blood and we cannot deny it. We want more wealth, power and success. We think we are all-knowing and no one can teach us anything. Greed, vanity, pride and lust, all of these have the root of selfishness. We condemn ourselves just by being ourselves and submitting to our selfish desires. Our own heart and conscience condemn us and tell us that what we are doing is wrong. We justify, we fight and we try to convince ourselves and others, but deep down, the truth is imminent.

What did Jesus come to set us free from? Why do we need saving you might ask? We need to be saved from ourselves, from the condemnation in our own hearts, from the lies of this world and the blindfold over our eyes. The blindfold makes us think we are superior, strong and intelligent, but compared to God, we are only fools. But the blindfold (lie) keeps us arrogant and proud, it convinces us that we don't need God. That is the sole purpose of Satan, to keep us away from the truth, away from Jesus and away from freedom. Satan tries to convince the world that they are free and that God equals rules and condemnation.

The Bible says: "For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." (1 Corinthians 1:18 ESV)

When you are wearing a blindfold you cannot understand the words of God, they are foolishness to you and even if someone explains to you the truth it sounds foolish. Choose today to remove the blindfold from your eyes and live in true freedom. I cannot remove the blindfold, but God can, His love and truth expose the lie, the oldest trick in the book. Ask Him today to save you and to open your eyes to see and your ears to hear. Ask Him to forgive you for the way you talked about Him and the way you maybe mocked His people. His heart is for you and His desire is to reach each person.

"So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish." (Matthew 18:14 ESV)

You have been forgiven before you even ask for forgiveness, Jesus paid it all for you and He just knocks at your door and asks you to let Him into your life. He brings no condemnation, but rather love and freedom. He's calling you back to life and into a relationship with Him. All you need to do is say yes.

"For this people's heart has grown dull,
and with their ears they can barely hear,
and their eyes they have closed,
lest they should see with their eyes
and hear with their ears
and understand with their heart
and turn, and I would heal them." (Matthew 13:15 ESV)

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