Change the way you think

17 January 2019

Change the way you think
"And so dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all He has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice - the kind He will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship Him.
Don't copy the behaviour and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect."  Romans 12: 1-2. New Living translation.

Do not conform to this world; don't be a copy cat, don't copy other people because you feel that they are good at a particular thing, especially within the church. Be you, that's who God made.
In the church, it is so easy to want to copy someone else. That's not bad if you are modelling yourself on that person as your mentor. But keep your own identity. What He has for you is far different from what He has for the person you're tempted to copy. Be yourself.
If you let Him, God will transform you. You just need to change the way you think about things. Think positive not negative. Speak faith not fear. Believe in yourself. Believe what God believes about you. He sees a man, woman or child He has made who at this time is under construction. Let Him mould you into His shape, until He is ready to set you free into His work. You may be ready now, but check out the way that you think and what comes out of your mouth when you speak and you'll get a pretty good idea about the spiritual state of your heart.

Possibly in the past, you may have allowed negative thoughts to control and ruin your day. When you're not flowing with the Holy Spirit and you don't spend time in the Word, it may be easier for the devil to get into your day and feed you with lies about stuff. Kick him into touch - NOW! Change the way you think; analyse your thoughts and decide to get into a positive manner instead of being like a bull in a china shop.

Some of us can remember how we used to be; how we used to flow with God and nothing really mattered except being with Him. What happened? Perhaps, you stepped away from Him; avoided fellowship and reading His Word like you used to. You've lost that wonderful sparkle that only Jesus can give. It's not too late. Join me in this prayer:

'Lord Jesus, I have lost that sparkle that I used to have. I feel empty and I need You to come and fill me up again with Your Spirit. Please forgive me. I open myself to You - now!"

Let me know what happens

Launch out into the deep

16 January 2019

Launch out into the deep  Luke 5: 1-11
Walk through the scene:

Crowds are gathering around Jesus to hear His teaching. Fishermen clean their nets after a night of disappointment. They have caught no fish and their livelihood is at stake.  There's a feeling of fear and tension around the place and still the crowds bustle Jesus. Jesus asks Peter for the use of his boat and Peter all though not in the best of moods, allows Jesus to sit in it and casts out a little so the crowds can't get to Him.

A short while later, we hear Jesus ask Peter to launch out into deep water and let his nets down again. Peter is tired, fed up and quite emotional. Peter thinks about this very strange and futile request yet instead of being negative towards Jesus - which we know, he could be, he replies, "Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing. Nevertheless, at your word, I will let down the net." (verse 5)
Suddenly, pandemonium strikes, fish begin to fill the net at an incredible pace and the net threatens to break. The other boat has to come to help out. They find themselves beginning to sink - but hold on, Jesus is on board. People don't sink when He's around, as long as they focus on Him.

Look at this scripture a moment and see yourself in this. Peter and his fellow fishermen had been totally depressed. they were professional fishermen and yet they had caught nothing except possibly a headache. Peter was low and probably couldn't see the point of everything. And then, Jesus is there and gives him some revelation. Peter, although reluctant, obeyed, "Nevertheless, at your word I will let down the net." In other words, 'I'll do it Lord'.

You know, things may be dismal in your life at this time. Sometimes, and I know from experience, there seems no point because the giant ahead of you is too big to tackle. But, hey, Jesus is a giant slayer. As Peter gave to Jesus, Jesus gave back to him and he had a superabundance of fish.

What is happening to you at this moment? Jesus is here and He's calling to you, "Launch out into the deep." The deep sounds scary but with Jesus on board, you won't sink. Say to Him, "Nevertheless, I will let down the net."

"Jesus, thank you for Your Word. I trust You and I agree to let down my net and launch out into the deep.
Go with me Lord and let my nets begin to break with Your blessing and goodness. Amen"

Where are you? (Part two)

15 January 2019

Where are you? Part two
Genesis 3

Adam and Eve knew they had done wrong. There was conviction all around. They hid and so do we at times. Hiding really is trying to cover sin up. It's rather like white washing a very cracked wall. It looks good at first, until it's dried, then the cracks start appearing. You can't hide your sin. It's almost like the Holy Spirit says to us, "You know." I'm sure it works rather like that.

Adam and Eve had already tried the 'Blame game.' "It wasn't my fault, it was the serpent," " it wasn't my fault it was the woman that You gave me." Adam had the audacity to put the blame on God V12.
Whatever they said, they knew that they had blown it. Things would never be the same again - for them or mankind. Sin had entered the world.
But before they were asked to leave the garden just look at the heart of God. He must have been very disappointed and very upset, in fact His heart would have been broken. That's the way He is with one of us when we go astray. It hurts Him. Here in verse 21, we see God making tunics of skin for them for clothes. this would hide their nakedness and embarrassment, to a degree. Where else would you get that? If you were fired from a job, would the boss make you some clothes to wear before you left? No. If you were asked to leave a church - and let's hope that never happens, but for the record, before you left would the pastor get the sewing machine out and run up a fancy suit for you? Extremely doubtful. However, here God continues to show them love, no matter what they've done - and what they'd done was massive. God continually shows us His love and mercy on a daily basis, even though we may be in error. You may have blown things last night but whatever you did, God loves you. Do you hear me? he loves you.

The question is 'Where are you?' Are you:

* Flowing with God
* Are you hiding in shame from hidden sin?
* Have you let God down?
* Where are you?

Thank goodness we have Jesus who took our sins upon Himself and nailed them to the cross. Through His action we have access to His Throne anytime of day or night.

"For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathise with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are , yet without sin. Let us therefore, come boldly to the Throne of Grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need" Hebrews 4:15 - 16

That doesn't mean that we can carry on sinning. Not at all. But when we do, which will be every day, we ask Jesus to forgive us, and He will.

The final question is, "Where are you?" Nothing can separate us from God; we just need at times, to get real close to Him and let The Holy Spirit wash afresh over us. Why not do that now?

"Jesus, I approach Your Throne of Grace with confidence
I need You Lord, things are difficult at the moment.
Please come and help me and as I draw near to You, draw near to me. Amen"

Where are you?

14 January 2019

Where are you?  Part1 (Read Genesis 3)
The serpent here represents the devil. Just a thought, but he spoke. I wonder if all the animals did at that time? What do you think?
Now a snake or serpent has 4 characteristics:

*  A Deadly tongue
*  Crawls into situations
*  Lies in wait
*  Strikes/bites

The serpent here was very crafty and twisted the truth.
The serpent said to Eve, "Has God indeed said, 'You shall not eat of every tree of the garden'?" V1
Eve relied, "We my eat the fruit of the trees of the garden but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.' "
Now the was a mistake that Eve made. She obviously had not listened properly to God or her husband Adam. She added the words, 'nor shall you touch it.'
We really need to listen properly to what God is saying to us, otherwise we will get ourselves into all kinds of problems. People have gone out on missions believing God has sent them, when He hasn't, and it has been disastrous. Listen properly.

The serpent tempted Eve with the fruit of the tree, and he will tempt you too if you allow him. Verse 6 tells us that the tree, was:

* Good for fruit
* Pleasant to the eye
* Desirable to make one wise

Check these characteristics out. Isn't this the way we are often tempted by things? The longer we look at things that we shouldn't we stand the risk of falling to it.The longer we are in a place that we shouldn't be in, the risk becomes great. Eve, should have known better but she fell for the temptation and so will we if we're not careful. The thing is, Adam was with her and didn't stop any of this. He should have said to the serpent, 'GET OUT OF MY GARDEN.' He should have taken the authority that he had been given but he didn't. And oftentimes, we don't either.

Later in the day, God was strolling through the garden and called for Adam, "Where are you?" But Adam and Eve hid because they were ashamed. They were under conviction. Have you ever felt that way. Of course you have. I have many times, but it shouldn't be that way. It shows us just where we are in God.
In closing, Where are you?

'Father open my eyes and help me to walk with You
Without shame or conviction
For the times I have, forgive me.  Amen'

Don't go it alone

13 January 2019

Don't go it alone

"Not my might, nor by power but by My Spirit says the Lord of Hosts".   Zechariah 4:6

You need God! You can't go it alone. You're weak - God is strong.
Let Him work through you:
"My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness."  2 Corinthians 12:9
The way you know that you're truly anointed is when God takes the weaker vessel and performs supernatural feats. It's when we say to God, "Lord, I can't do this, but I know You can, please help me." You may think that you haven't a clue how God can use you to do anything but that's how He likes us to be. We are saying that we trust Him to help.

In Exodus 3:11, God called Moses to go and bring the Israelites out of Egypt. To go and see Pharaoh and tell him that he should let the people go. What a mammoth task and one in which any of us would find very daunting.
Moses asked God "Who am I?" Meaning, "what can I do?" Possibly he should have said, "Whose am I?" and possibly he may have realised the trust that God had in him to perform this task. However, with God, all things are possible. He's never caught out or has to stop and think what's the best thing to do.
Moses wriggled and thought of every excuse possible. I would have probably done the same. I mean, Moses would have to go back to the place where he had killed an Egyptian. He could face execution or a life in the dirtiest dungeon ever. God asked Moses, "What is that in your hand?" referring to Moses' rod or staff. When God commanded him to throw it on the ground, it turned into a snake. Exodus 4:2 - 3.
God was demonstrating to Moses that He would be in charge; He would go with Him and take care of every situation. Nothing is too difficult for God but we must include Him in all that we do, otherwise it can all go wrong. We need to give to Him all that we have and let Him use it and us to bring victory to the situation.

Are you struggling with something at this time. Has God asked you to do something that is so overwhelming that it is causing you sleepless nights. Or are you struggling with a decision to change jobs, move house or any other huge task. Don't carry this alone. It's too much for you. Yield it to God. In other words, approach the Throne of God and surrender it to Him. Draw near to Him and He will draw near to you. James 4:8. That's a promise!

Go in His Name

12 January 2019

Go in His Name
"Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord" Psalm 118:26, Matthew 21:9, Matthew 23:39
In Hebrew the means "Baruch haba, B'shem Adonai"

This scripture is talking of Jesus, who was to come in the Name of the Lord and as He made His way around the Holy Land, healing people, showing them the true meaning of life and generally spreading His love all over where He went.

Although the scripture is talking about Jesus, I feel it could be said of others who go in the Name of the Lord. Those who go to foreign lands, risking their lives for the Gospel. Those too, who work in ordinary jobs and yet let Jesus be seen in all they do there.

I used to work in a hospice as a Bereavement Counsellor/Social Worker. My job was to get along the dying and the family and friends, offering support wherever I could. I was the only Christian in the place and as it was frowned upon to speak about Jesus, I had to go undercover. I would joke with people that I was a covert, undercover agent for Jesus.
With God's help, I was able to help many people in their fear and sorrow and had the privilege of bringing quite a few people to God. I was even forbidden to speak about Jesus by a superior but I was comfortable in the knowledge that Jesus had placed me there and I must go on.
I considered that I was working for Jesus and He had sent me into this evangelistic and pastoral setting in the Name of the Lord. (Baruch haba, B'shem Adonai)

Many others are doing similar things for God. Therefore if God has sent them to do this work, they can be recognised as people who are, Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.

If you are one of these people, stand up tall, do your job well and know that God is well pleased with your efforts, even if some people aren't.

Choose your words wisely Part two

11 January 2019

Choose your words wisely Part two
Regarding the tongue and how we speak, James says:
"But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.
With it, we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men who have been 
made in the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. 
My brethren these things ought not to be so." " James 3:8 - 10 

The tongue can not be tamed and we have no power over it - on our own. However:
"But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, 
full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.: James 3:17

Whereas it is impossible for us to tame the tongue, being filled with God's Spirit can bring about a change to this. We can be so filled with The Holy Spirit that we do not desire to do anything, other than walk with God; being filled with God and only allowing the Word of God to come out of our mouths. Therefore it must be in our hearts first:

"For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks." Matthew 12:34

The late Derek Prince said about this verse:
"When the heart is filled it overflows through the mouth; and that overflow tells us the real condition of the heart." Copyright Derek Prince

There you have it. Take a look at yourself and determine what is the state of your heart? Do Godly, wholesome words that offer edification come out of it, or criticism, bad mouthing, angry words etc etc?

Taking a look again at James 3:17, the check list is:

(1) Being pure
(2) Peaceable
(3) Gentle
(4) Willing to yield
(5) Full of mercy and good fruits
(6) Without partiality
(7) Without hypocrisy

This is a good place to start in order to heal the state and condition of our heart. Why not do a self evaluation and bring it before the Throne of God. You know He cares enough to help