God knows

I think the subtitle to this post should be "Keep calm, God knows".

He knows. He knows. He knows. I just want to keep on writing that for an entire page. He knows the desires of your heart, He knows what you need and He knows the plans which He has for you. He is a good God, a loving father and a best friend. He knitted you together in your mother's womb. His heart is for you, His love is over you and His favour is upon you.

He sees your every need and hears your every heart cry and He is not panicking, He has a plan. He has plans for good and not for evil, plans to prosper you, for a future and a hope. He knows every desire that you haven't even discovered yet, He knows what you are going to ask before you even ask it and He plans how to meet it. He knows what will fulfil you and what you enjoy doing the most and He works everything together for your good. Sometimes we might not understand things or the reasons for things changing, but He knows. He's protecting you, shaping you and changing you or moving you into the person or situation which He knows you will find most fulfilling. He is a good God and that is something we should never forget. He is in all the details and He planned it all in advance.

His ways are perfect and often unconventional, but beauty will always be evident, His grace will abound and His love will overflow. He looks at the heart, not the face and He listens to the story, not judge the consequences. His mercy is great and His arms are wide open. He is a comfort to all who seek Him, He rebuilds whatever is broken and restores all that was stolen. He is the epitome of kindness and the lover of our souls.

Come today and bring it all to Him. There is no prerequisite, no perfect way, just come and bring it all. He sees you, the hurt part of you, the broken you, the misunderstood you, the beautiful you, He knows you and He still loves you.

“He fulfils the desire of those who fear him; he also hears their cry and saves them.” Psalm 145:19

“Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.” Isaiah 55:1

“But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4:14

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Feed on His faithfulness

I’m not the type of person to look back, I like keeping my gaze ahead as opposed to dwelling on the past. What’s done is done and there’s no point getting hung up on it, but I do believe that sometimes looking back to the good parts is important. God is 100% in control of our lives and He weaves our lives together beautifully. We need to look back to see His golden thread running through our days, months and years. He knows the plans that He has for us and when we come to Him with a willing heart, He makes them happen and makes our paths straight.

I love this verse Psalm 37:3: “Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.” My Bible has a little note at the verse and an explanation at the bottom which I love the most. “Befriend faithfulness” can also be translated as “feed on His faithfulness”. When we look back, we see all the wonderful things which He has done and we see His golden thread weaving together all things for good. We see His faithfulness in our lives and we can remind ourselves of who He is and how He is in control. We can then feed on this faithfulness of His and feed our spirits and our faith. By reminding (feeding) ourselves of His faithfulness, we build ourselves up and increase our faith in the situations that we are currently facing.

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28

We tend to use this scripture as comfort when people are facing difficult situations, which is appropriate, but this scripture is not limited to difficult situations, it also includes favourable situations. It is not that He only works the difficult things together for our good, but ALL things. Thus in every part of our lives and in every season, He is weaving our lives together, all for our good (and growth) and for His glory. Ultimately we do not just want to live for ourselves, but also to serve His purpose for our lives and serve the people around us in the ways which He intended for us.

Take some time today to look back and spot the golden thread weaving through your past. He took His time and put you on a journey to bring you to this place and for a time such as this. Be encouraged, strengthened, thankful and secure, because He KNOWS the plans He has for you, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. (Jeremiah 29:11)

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Dealing with disappointment

We all experience disappointment some time or another. Maybe you are having a worse day than anticipated, maybe someone didn't meet your expectations, maybe a friend let you down or a promise was broken, it might be a huge disappointment or a small disappointment, but it still tries to steal our joy and cramp our style. Your heart feels like it's bleeding and you don't understand why people are so thoughtless, careless or selfish. You feel bad, because you are not sure if you are just overreacting or if it really is something that needs to be addressed. Point is, you just feel hurt and discouraged.

When we live in the Spirit, we can always be in a place of peace and joy. Once in my disappointment God gave me the following picture: my heart is made of clay and as disappointment comes it leaves imprints like footprints on my heart. Holes where it has trampled. At that moment we have a choice, we can allow the holes to harden and dry by harbouring the disappointment or we can choose to let the Spirit work through us, give it to Him and let the disappointment go before it even leaves an imprint on our day. God fills and moulds our hearts until there is no trace of disappointment left.

It's a fight, but it's a choice. We choose what gets us down and what drains us. We have the Spirit in us and if we choose to submit every situation to Him, He will restore our hearts. If we seek revenge, complain, scold or attack the other party, we only react on the impulses of the flesh and that can never bring healing to our hearts or give us the ability to forgive. I'm not saying that it's easy, it takes practice, but choosing to submit the situation to God and allow the Spirit to work through us, will always lead us into a place of peace and joy and enable us to respond in love.

God can never disappoint us. He is with us every moment and He catches us every time that we slip or fall. Choose Him and call on Him in every situation and do not allow the imprint to leave a mark on your heart. Allow your heart act like a sponge, every time when life squeezes the water out of you, allow the Spirit to immediately replenish you.

May our days never look the same again. May we live with open hearts, undisturbed by the challenges in our daily lives, untouched by the darts of the enemy. May we be fountains of peace, love and joy! 

"I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world." (John 16:33 ESV)

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Take heart!

When I was asking God what to write about today, He gave me a picture of someone walking up a mountain who is reaching a point of discouragement because of the difficulty of the journey. I felt Him say (paraphrasing): “Look back at how far you have come and how faithful I’ve been. Do not look at what you don’t know (the rest of the journey and the fear of the unknown), but look back at what you do know and what I have already shown you. That is what you are putting your faith in.”

We are always on the journey of life and maybe today you are in the middle of a steep slope where the road ahead is uncertain and this has made you discouraged and fearful. Do not think of all the experience which you lack and all the elements that you are uncertain about, but look back in time, because if God is moving you forward, then He has given you examples in your life to encourage you to continue walking. Maybe it’s a family member who has radically changed since meeting God and who inspires you? Maybe it’s a friend’s support or maybe God gave you a dream, vision or prophetic word for your future? If you cannot see these examples, ask Him to open your eyes to see His footprints in your journey and you will be amazed at how He has brought you to the point at which you are now.

Think of the moment that David stood in front of Goliath. That was a steep slope that no man in Israel wanted to climb, but David, still a youth and inexperienced in battle was willing to take on the giant. Why? Because he looked back and he remembered what God can do and who God is and that this steep slope was no match for him, because God was with him.

“And David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are but a youth, and he has been a man of war from his youth.” But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him. Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.” And David said, “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you!” 1 Samuel 17:32-37

So let your hearts not fail because of this steep slope, but look back, remember, take courage and walk with endurance the path set before you. The victory is already won in Jesus. Believe it and receive it. This slope is no match for you and Jesus.

“I have said these things to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

Awesome song: Mighty fortress

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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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Live with vision not discouragment

I am so excited to write this blog today as I feel that the Holy Spirit has really opened my eyes to this truth again this week and I’m so excited to share it with you.

“Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint (or the people are discouraged), but blessed is he who keeps the law.” Proverbs 29:18

Imagine the following: You are traveling through a land and you have special eyes with which you can see far ahead. You can see through mountains and identify where the danger lies and where the fruitful plantations grow. This special vision that you have makes your journey easier as you can see which routes to avoid (desert and danger) and you can see which blessings are on your path (streams and fruitfulness). Even if you choose to climb a mountain, no matter how hard it is, you can see that there are beautiful streams and fruitfulness on the other side.

The Holy Spirit gives us this vision in our daily lives. He enables us to see past the difficult situations (rocky paths and mountains) and reveals the blessings, fruitfulness and gifts which are in store for us. When we keep seeing His vision, we remain in a place of faith, peace, joy and encouragement instead of a space of discouragement.

So often in life worries, fears, lies and anxieties wrap themselves around our heads blurring our vision and we become short-sighted. We lose the bigger picture. We stare into the rocky ground, the mountains and deserts and we become discouraged as we focus on the problems. We become tired of our challenges, anxious, lost, lonely and fearful.

Do not lose your vision as you will become discouraged. You might ask: ”how do I then remove the cloud around my head and regain my vision?”. The verse above says: “blessed is he who keeps the law”. We don’t follow the law of the Old Testament anymore, but the law that is written on our hearts of which loving God and loving our neighbour are the most important elements. When we follow these, we will be blessed.

We remove the cloud by fixing our gaze on God, His love and who He is, instead of the situations we face and where we find ourselves on the road. We focus on the promise and not on the problem and this will enable us to see into the future and give us hope. When we know who He is, the mountain becomes a heap of stones and the journey becomes a joy, because nothing is impossible for God. We were made to be a people with great wisdom, vision and perspective in order to also encourage and lead others to a place of vision and freedom.

So today, stop starring at your feet, leave the pity party, be encouraged and lift your gaze to heaven. Find yourself in His unending love and faithfulness. Get His vision and perspective, see the future and start walking towards it.  

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