“Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.”
— Robert F. Kennedy
As a Christian I am always critical on myself. I am constantly making mistakes, regretting actions and promising never to do that again while constantly failing. I am hoping this blog will develop into an encouragement for others to let them know they are not alone in this crazy messed up world. We are one family in Christ. We may be nuts at times but if we constantly pray into the Fruit of the Spirit and encourage each other we may just see our family grow and exciting things happen.
Sometimes it is a case Of wrong time wrong place A lot of times it is Its a case of We've personally messed it up again Deliberately or not
Whatever the trouble Whatever the situation Our superhero Doesn't wear a cape Have a gimmick or Come from a comic book
Our rescuer depends on our perspective As to whether seen or not He rides on a white horse With an Army of angels surrounding Saving us from danger And is with us all the time
No situation is too big or small Our hero, Jesus Wants to rescue us from all Whatever your trouble Call on the name That saves us for eternity
A Sunday morning poetry reflection inspired by 1 Kings 19:11 – 13
And he said, “Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper. And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
1 Kings 19:11-13 ESV
A gentle whisper That is how you came Not in the powerful wind Earthquake or fire But gently whispering
A whisper so peaceful A presence so identifiable No doubt That it is only God touching earth
Your power, your strength So strong, yet so gentle There is no way to ignore Your presence as a whisper Passing by
Your whisper Your strength and power Now lives in us Through your Holy Spirit Still powerful and true
A power not to be taken frivously Taking God for granted His spirit Living in us Whispering tremendous power
Power that rose Jesus From death to life For us to live Not in the grave But joyous in victory
No situation to big or small God whispers Let me do this And break the chain So you can walk with me freely
To say I am disgruntled by a typical “English summer” is probably an understatement.
My head, from the moment I woke was one of negativity and not joy. Despite listening to worship songs and praying it wouldn’t shift.
Off to the garden I went. After weeks of rain and gloom it needed a tidy. While trying to save my tomato plants from blight it occurred to me that my soul was blighted.
My mind cloudy in mouldy thoughts far from love. My mind running away in despair and gloom of thoughts that most likely will never happen.
As I trimmed and snipped the stems that weren’t falling apart in my hands, I suddenly though of the bible verse from John 15.
I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
John 15:5
It dawned on me that I needed pruning. As prayers flowed while trimming and snipping it led to a period of quiet and reflection once tidied. I let God work within me.
Sometimes life takes over and recently it has been full on busy. I forgot to be still and just carried on with the to do list.
If you are feeling blighted and that your mind is clouded. Step back, sit down and let God prune away the blight and restore your vine.
It's been a little crazy My mind was going goo goo My branches getting weighed down By blight and mildew Causing comparison, hatred and jealousy
It's time to take a break And let the gardener do his thing Trimming and pruning back my sin Restoring the fruit of the sprit That I need to grow and nourish my soul
Once pruned and restored My soul how well it is Singing songs of joy Praises all around To my God, the gardener
Dear younger self If I could go back and give you advice I would firstly tell you You don't know everything like you think you do Take the advice
Love who you are Embrace it Don't desire attention Love is pure not selfish It is not lust Being the prettiest, wealthiest or cleverest
You don't need comparison Perfection or acceptance Learn to be yourself Love yourself Accept yourself for who you are No one else is like you You are unique
You are not perfect and will never be It doesn't matter Pray Love Jesus Stand firm Wear your armour Love others no matter what
Sing out loud Who cares that it is out of tune Dance like your dad Rhythm is not needed Do not let anyone steal your sparkle Rejoice
Praise God Let him in every mundane part of your life Hold firm to his promises Just live each moment With God alone
You are saved by grace Nothing can change that Even when you don't know it You are influencing all around You have wonderful friends and family Most importantly You have the most awesome God Who provides in the most awesome way Never leaving or forsaking you
Love life It is precious Embrace life and who you are
It's not about us It's all about you We humbly walk with God the father Jesus the son The Holy Spirit Living in us Keep our eyes on you Our hearts beating as yours Acting justly Showing mercy Humbly walking Doing God's will Not looking for praise That points to us But only to the father above
A few weeks ago I wrote about embracing life just where we are.
I have a friend that has been in hospital for over 6 weeks now. She is going through a tough and challenging time.
My friend’s mum is a Christian but she has never chosen that path. My friend hasn’t made a commitment to Christ, but she is on the verge of something.
I find it hard at times to openly approach people about my faith. If I am asked I can talk about it for hours. If I am not asked it isn’t so easy.
When I approach my faith with others I like to put it in action or in ways they can understand. I was praying how I can approach this with my friend when she is only allowed one nominated visitor, which is her daughter. COVID prevention rules. My friend is so unwell all communication has been through others or messaging.
I felt that God was telling me to make her some prayer cards. I am not an artist or artistically gifted. However I can be creative. So I decided to embrace the challenge.
I made prayer cards based on the fruit of the spirit. Writing the prayers was easy. How to make them look a wee bit pretty that I needed to embrace.
I used the little talent I do have and jazzed it up. I cut, stuck and glued with my own hand writing and adding some dots to it.
I bravely got the cards to my friend in hospital and she loves them. She has been showing them to the hospital Chaplin and others.
My prayer now is that she uses them and they open up conversations about Jesus and making a commitment.
So if you feel you are not gifted or challenged in doing something out of your comfort zone. Embrace the challenge and let the Holy Spirit lead. You may be surprised at the result.
These are a different set as my friends had butterflies on, but the prayers idea is the same
Lord of the heaven and earth How quickly I get distracted Jobs to do People to see And the games on the tablet The hours spent wasted
Keep me focused on you alone With my eyes on heavenly realms Constantly praying Having you on my mind Singing and dancing Praise all around
Let me feast on your blessings Each treasure from heaven Sharing with others Your goodness abound Leaving the earthly Firmly on the ground
Let my being be more than natural Carrying your presence supernaturally Not limiting you Let your Spirit abound Showing others around The possiblities abound
Be my heart beat Lord I pray Not easily distracted Just running the race Joyful and accepting No matter the finishing place Eternity in heaven the ultimate place
It’s time to stop making excuses & embrace where we are in life.
God made us all uniquely. We can’t compare ourselves or our circumstances to any one else.
We are UNIQUE, AMAZING, LOVED, CHERISHED just for being us. Isn’t it time we embraced that.
When things don’t work out the way we want. Is God trying to get our attention? When life isn’t feeling fair where are our eyes? On ourselves or God?
We have all been in circumstances where we can’t see clearly in the moment. If you look back to each of those moments you can see God pouring out love, peace, joy, forgiveness, restoration, transformation, provision & freedom. The the list goes on.
Our circumstances do not stop us doing God’s unique job he designed us for. We may not even know what it is. But we are all called to a great commission. All we need is Jesus.
I will never be a worship leader unless it is a choir of cats! I will probably never publish a book. I will never be a millionaire. Who cares? I have my little blog. However out of tune my worship is, God is listening to my heart and intent. I have food on the table, a roof over my head & a flushing loo! I am blessed.
Whatever your present circumstances, embrace them. Whether this is just to be still & listen or if you are called for action. Embrace it & let God lead.
And do not forget you are fearfully & wonderfully made & let your soul sing of this.
It doesn’t matter how old you are! 30 secs old or 120 years old. YOU ARE LOVED.
The very conservative middle class town I Iive in has recently suffered 3 teenage suicides. I find this heartbreaking.
I have no idea the reasons why they did this or what life looked like for them but this should not be happening in a so called first world country with access to so much mental and physical health support. A country where we preach about being kind to one another, where in reality we all struggle with that, mostly unintentionally.
Life is precious. You are precious. BELIEVE IT.
As a Christian you can’t believe in God without believing in the devil. The biggest thing the devil does is lie to you. He will tell you your worthless take away your confidence and bring you down because he wants you in his camp. We all fall for those lies at times.
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
John 10:10
Jesus came because he loves YOU! He loves YOU with a love that can never be quashed, taken away, removed or dampened.
Jesus loves YOU for being YOU no other reason.
It is an unexplainable love. You may not understand it, get it or even believe in it but is is there and nothing YOU can do can stop it.
JESUS LOVES YOU.
However hard, whatever your struggle. Stop listening to the lie. If things feel out of control get professional help. PRAY you may be surprised at the answer.
But whatever you are going through right now remember …..
