Practice what you preach

We need to start taking life to a new level. It is time for us to rise up and be on our front foot and not on the defense. It is so easy to read our Bibles and spend time with God, but then get swept away by the motions, thoughts and habits of daily life and people. What we read, is what we should speak and what we speak, is what we need to exercise daily. Our thoughts need to be in line with the thoughts of God. We have His Spirit, but our minds need to be renewed, so that we can live and think according to His Spirit and not according to this world.

For example, we can’t read the Bible and then say that we are ill. We cannot be ill, because we are new, reborn creations in Christ Jesus and He has died for every illness that we can ever have. So we can never be ill. We can feel the attack of an illness and then we have a choice, allow it or rebuke it. Sometimes it takes longer to rebuke than other times, but just because we are being attacked and we feel the physical symptoms, does not mean that God’s word is not true and that we are now ill. If you feel ill, then say that you are fighting an illness, but do not start believing that you are ill. At the end we receive what we believe. Our thoughts are in line with what we believe and we speak according to our thoughts and we receive the physical manifestation of our words. Therefore be careful of the words which you speak, they will build or break your future. Your words are seeds, sown into your future. Decide today what future you want to have and start sowing those words as seeds.

The message might sound very harsh, but it is actually just the glorious truth of how Jesus has died so that we can live in His peace, His shalom (nothing missing, nothing broken). He has given us so much and we need to take back what is legally ours. If you haven’t been believing, thinking or speaking in this way, then don’t feel condemned. His mercies never cease and they are new every morning. Every day you have a new slate and every day is a new opportunity to put your faith in action and expect the miraculous!

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” - Lamentations 3:22-23

“From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.  The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” - 2 Corinthians 5:16-17 

“who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed.” (healed in Greek meaning to cure, heal, to be made whole) - 2 Peter 2:24

The power of love

What do you think when I tell you: “God loves you”? Maybe you know His love well, maybe you don’t care or will just brush me off by saying: “whatever”. In some way the phrase “God loves you” has become such a cliché and so easily said and I wonder how many people truly know that God loves them incredibly much and experience His love? I was at a wedding this weekend and the person speaking mentioned that the wife is God’s vessel through which He can tangibly show her husband how much He loves him and vice versa. There is no other relationship where love can be demonstrated so intimately, in so many ways and on so many levels than in marriage. A wife lifts up her husband by loving him the way God loves him and the husband lifts up the wife by loving her the way God loves her.

No wonder Jesus calls the church His bride. His people are destined to live in an intimate relationship of love with Him. There is so incredibly much power in the love of God and nothing can stand against it. I love that the Bible says: “Perfect love casts out all fear.” and we have the perfect love inside of us. I wonder how our lives will look when we truly, truly grasp this wonderful truth. We cannot comprehend how much God loves us. It’s not just a little love, it’s a BIG love and everything He does demonstrates His love for you. You get to know Him by His love. It is who He is.

“For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” Eph 3:14-19

Paul says that we need to be “rooted and grounded in love” meaning rooted and grounded in God’s love. If we just begin to understand how much God loves us, we will bounce up and down every day with joy, our fears will be extinct and we will overflow with peace. Not to mention the confidence and power we will walk in. No feeling of guilt or condemnation will hold us down and no manipulating thoughts will distract us from Him. We will feel in love and light as a feather 24 hours a day and this IS possible.

As God is teaching me to walk in His love and Spirit, I feel everything around me changing. There are fewer things that try to get me down and their effects don’t last long. I feel more and more unstoppable every day, because He is in me and when He is for me, who can be against me?

We don’t live by what we feel, but by what we know and what you can ask for you can have if you believe. Everything starts with faith, because without faith we cannot please God. We need to believe He loves us whether we feel it or not. We need to believe He listens whether we feel it or not. We need to believe He speaks whether we hear Him or not and then we will start experiencing things. Then our eyes will open and we will see His love, feel His love and hear His voice.

The Bible says:

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” Matt 7:7

“You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.” Jer 29:13

“Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud;
be gracious to me and answer me!
You have said, “Seek my face.”
My heart says to you,
“Your face, Lord, do I seek.” Psalm 27:7-8

God does not disappoint. Seek and you will find. Seek His love and you will come to know it and it will blow your mind! As it says above “the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge”, it is not something that we can understand with our minds. It is above our knowledge, it does not make sense, it is a crazy, I-did-not-do- anything- to deserve-this kind of love. It is unstoppable, unbreakable and 100% unconditional. There is nothing we can do to earn His love, all we can do is accept it and be thankful. It’s when we stop trying to earn it, when we realise that we have it all already.

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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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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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Grow love not war

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“Again he began to teach beside the sea. And a very large crowd gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat in it on the sea, and the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land. And he was teaching them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: “Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil. And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away. Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.” And he said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” Mark 4:1-9

It is our responsibility to keep our hearts open to God, always ensuring that there is good soil for His words to fall on and take root. The smallest things can hinder us from receiving His words and can make our hearts hard, whether we intend to do it or not. Unforgiveness, resentment, offence, anger, bitterness, anxiousness etc. are examples of seeds which Satan sows and if it takes root in our hearts, can choke the good seeds and steel the good soil. We are the ones who give power to these emotions or weeds as illustrated here and harbouring them is our choice.

I do understand that maybe great injustice has been done to you and forgiving someone for their harsh words or abusive actions might by very difficult, but God does not expect us to do this alone. We can ask Him to help us forgive, even though we struggle, all we need to be is willing to forgive. It is so dangerous to harbour unforgiveness as it breeds hurt, bitterness, contempt and often results in anger.  

When we are angry, the last thing we feel like is being vulnerable or lovable. We put our defences up, harden ourselves and we get ready to fight. Sometimes we just see red and there’s no space for reason. So now you can imagine, God is love. How does He fit into that picture? He doesn’t. When we reach that state, we inadvertently say that I’m here to take revenge and I want justice and someone needs to pay for the way I feel. At that moment we cut God out and our emotions take over and what follows thereafter can only lead to destruction of self and others. Afterwards when our emotions clam down, the last thing we feel is a sense of relief or joy, but rather increased hurt, emptiness and probably remorse.

“Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil.” Eph 4:26-27

When we try and punish someone for the wrong they have done towards us, we end up punishing ourselves more, especially when it involves people close to us. As with all of the lies of the devil, revenge is just another attractive door with a graveyard behind it. Let’s ask God to help us today, to rather choose love and to learn to let go of past things that are dragging us down and keeping our hearts hard. Let’s remove every weed to allow for more space and good soil for God’s words to take root and grow in our hearts and His peace will reign in our hearts.

“He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” Col 1:13-14

“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.” Col 3:12-15

The world is wide open - Jason Upton - SUCH a powerful song!

In the wind and the waves



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“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.

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.” James  1:2-6

This is a harsh message, but there is no space for doubting in the kingdom. This doesn’t mean that we will never doubt and if we doubt, God is still faithful to us, but faith is the power of the kingdom and it is impossible to please God without faith. We cannot have one foot in the faith bucket and one foot in the doubt bucket, there is nothing harder than sitting on the fence.

As James mentions above, we do not want to be waves driven and tossed by the sea and that is what we look like when we doubt in who God is. When trials arrive it can feel as if a carpet has been pulled from underneath us and we panic, our emotions climb on a rollercoaster and they go up and down and all around. We don’t think straight, we grab onto every possible solution and we try and take control and in the process we get more desperate and more disappointed.

“We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.” 2 Cor 10:5

Instead we should strive to remain calm, to try and immediately restrain our fears and anxieties by taking every thought captive and submitting it to the word and will of God. In this way we can choose not to climb on the rollercoaster and to rather rest in the peace of God, to rest in His word and the promises that He has spoken over us. God has not given us a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power, love and self-control.

May we pause every time a wave comes and without fear face the trial head on, knowing that He who is standing behind us is greater than anything that this world can throw at us.

“Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” 1 John 4:4

“And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. “ Heb 11:6

Stressing out?

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It is so easy to get caught up in life, rushing from one point to the next. I realise that everybody is in a different place in their lives and yes there is a time to work and a time to play, but it’s so important to take time and breathe.

God didn’t need to rest on the 7th day, He has all the energy, He is energy, but he chose to rest and enjoy the creation which He has made. Sometimes I wonder why we think that working, rushing and being busy 7 days a week is normal. I think if God didn’t make sleep, then we would probably be busy 24 hours a day! I’m not saying that it’s not good to be busy and I’m not saying that our lives need to be perfectly balanced. I’m just saying that our lives need to be as balanced as God wants them to be. It’s important for us to listen to our bodies and to the Holy Spirit and to be honest with ourselves as to what limits we can or should push ourselves to.

I have been in seasons where I have worked up to 14 hours a day for weeks at a time and at that time I knew it was what God wanted me to do. No one would have said that it was a balanced few weeks, but God pulled me through late nights with great joy and peace and I still see the fruit of those seasons in my life today.

To me resting is not so much physically sitting and relaxing, but a state of mind. Knowing that everything you do is stress free with peace and joy and then there will be a sense of rest in your heart.

“Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” Matthew 11:28-30

We can live this life stress free and in rest if we learn to enter into His rest and to hand over our burdens to God. This does not mean that we sit around and do nothing, but rather that we continue going about our daily schedule, with perseverance, but without anxiety of what tomorrow might bring.

“Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest?” Luke 12:24-26

“The Lord protects those of childlike faith;
    I was facing death, and he saved me.
Let my soul be at rest again,
    for the Lord has been good to me.” Psalm 116:6-7