Not going to lie. I didn’t think I was going to be able to write anything today. My mind was under attack. Then my spirit when I heard that where I live in the UK we will be going into tier 4 Boxing day. Although not unexpected.
In this moment of darkness I was wondering how I can possibly write anything about adore without sounding half hearted, niche or preachy. But does it matter if I do?
Isn’t the point of Jesus to adore, love and trust him in all the surrounding darkness as well as the joyful times. To ask Jesus to remove the darkness.
When I am struggling I tend to listen to worship music as I find it the most uplifting thing when I sing along or let it sink in.
Adore
Jesus the night you were born The angles flew down from heaven To shepherds below Singing adoration to you In the brightness of sight Go worship the king they said Not in a palace With a crown on his head But in a stable A child just like you Making himself human To understand as we do To have a closeness Knowing all we go through So worship and adore the baby at Christmas time Beyond into the new year And never let go For as we adore Jesus He seeps into our bones Bringing joy peace and miracles all the year round.
I don’t know if it’s because I live on a island, or because of how I perceive my nation in my heart but this first part of Isaiah really jumped out at me this morning.
The island that I live on Needs time to be still For the majority of people are distracted by the lie "It's all about money and me, me,me"
Make time for God he is not a myth Stop making life too busy even in whatever this is. Lets stop stumbling in the dark Fingers crossed This plan works
Let this pandemic make us think About being still Looking for more For light to break through and show the way.
The government and their latest ploy From five to three With six inbetween Numbers and statistics everywhere It's time to get personal Reflect and care
In the newsflash of doom and gloom There is a group of people On its knees Praying for healing Hope and eyes to be opened Wanting the nation to completely be still
The pandemic these people want to cure Is hearts that have turned cold and heads that are hard Revival is needed in this land To see miracles flowing Hope floating Hearts dancing
It is time for this nation To refresh it's dry bones To come alive Open it's eyes To look beyond the lie Get on its knees and be still To give our hearts back to God and turn tears into dancing.
This week’s Five minute Friday prompt word is breathe. You can join in the fun here: https://fiveminutefriday.com As a writing community we write for 5 minutes(ish) no perfection or edits, the words just flow. #fiveminuteFriday
I originally wrote and published this in September last year when as a family we were going through some challenges. God is good and we are over that now. When I saw the prompt word for FMF today. I thought of this and decided to reblog.
Breathe:
Breathe Breathe in slowly
Feel your rib cage rise Close your eyes Breathe out Pause
Open your eyes Pause Breathe You can do this
Heaven is sending it’s Angels Stand firm, your rock is with you Take his hand Breathe
Close your eyes The arrows won’t hit you Fear can’t touch you Breathe
Stand firm squeeze his hand tighter Look doubt in the eyes and say Hallelujah Say it clearly do not quake Say it louder
The enemy is circling Breathe Raise your arms Sing louder Breathe
Let your rock hold you Let every drop of his precious blood free you Breathe
Let it soak into your being Release your doubt stand firm in his promises Relief is coming
Look at the vast army fighting for you Remember the promises Let your praise rise Louder Breathe
You are loved Pause Breathe You are worth the fight Pause Breathe
Your rock is with you The battle may be raging but the war is over It is finished Nothing more can be done Breathe
Stand firm in his promises Breathe Trample on the doubt Sing louder Stand strong Fear is gone Breathe
Pause Let peace rise Let joy burn within Let hope have control Breathe
Believe God is with you God will never leave you Breathe
2020 is far from what anyone planned. The rest of the year may not be what we hoped for either, but it has to be what we make it. The attitude and end result will be up to us.
If we can watch the COVID statistics and know a loved one is not there we are blessed. If loved ones who are suffering from other illness are still getting treatment we are thankful. If we have a job, roof over our head and food on the table we are rich.
Dear Jesus, Our plans for 2020 may not be what we wanted or hoped for. Some moments have been a little scary. But as our rock Jesus we stand on you. We trust the the plans you have for us are for our future. You are our hope, our peace our joy. Please bring comfort to the hurting, Healing to the sick, Shelter to the homeless, Food and provision to the hungry. Remind us that these times of a pandemic are only temporary, Let us use the time to love and care for each other, Just as you taught us. We are not alone, your Holy Spirit is with us, Protect the mental health of our nation as much as our physical health. Let us realise these ruined plans of ours, Are nothing compared to the blessings you have for us in the future. So help us make the rest of 2020 joyful in our hearts even if it isn't the way we want it to be. Amen.
Today’s Five minute Friday prompt word is Mercy You can join in the fun here: https://fiveminutefriday.com As a writing community we write for 5 minutes(ish) no perfection or edits, the words just flow.
mercy – noun – compassion or forgiveness shown towards someone whom it is within one’s power to punish or harm.
I am not going lie or sugar coat things but being a Christian is hard. There are times when situations of the world take control and following God’s will is hard. But we need to lean on him in those times to keep our minds and hearts on track. God is full of mercy and we have to be too, however hard that is.
Lord forgive me as I am not feeling merciful today, This is wrong and not of you. I repent for my feelings but they are struggling to go away. I am left feeling victimised, discriminated against. Give me a heart of love, Full of mercy and forgiveness, To everyone around me no matter what their actions. Let my actions today be from you, mirroring yours on earth. Let me stand firm in your teachings, Filled with your Spirit knowing whatever is going on all around that is nothing compared to losing you. Keep me in your armour and fill me with the fruit of your spirit, And let me show mercy to others as you have shown to me, Let your cross be the picture I carry today. Amen.
I started this blog because I’m not perfect. As a Christian I know I will never be perfect. I am not here to judge or preach. I just want to encourage others letting you know that you are not alone. That we all struggle with emotions at times.
This week I have struggled. The thing with depression & anxiety is it sneaks up on you. You know you are loved, you trust God completely for every situation and know that he won’t let you down.
But as your standing on your rock, your firm foundation, fully clothed in your armour of God. Your eyes are focused on deflecting all arrows. The wind of destruction is gale force 7 around you, while swaying your eyes are still on the cross.
Depression and anxiety move in. They are sneaky, they know your already focusing on too much and sneak in under your the radar, while your balance is wobbling.
They start whispering in your ear. Making you compare yourself to others. Telling you, your no good. You turn off, try not to listen, then they go for the kill. They use someone else to hit the final blow. In my case this happened at work. Anger rises you lose your cool. You get upset you have failed again.
There’s too much noise in your head, static, lies, anxiety and stress. Depression then kicks the ball into the goal. 1- nil and your not on the winning side.
This is where I start to feel I’m going nuts, off kilter, unbalanced, useless and unhappy. I start to listen to the lies
Worship music is helping but it’s not breaking the chain. It’s sticking a plaster on the pain.
I pray for the spirit it seems so far. I need your fruit that covers this all. More love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. It feels so far away.
In the UK we are still church online. Even though I am not the most social of people, I am starting to miss the church family connection in person, hugs and praying together. We do this online but it’s not quite the same.
I struggle through worship, the sermon I’m a mess. Mainly in tears, praying, repenting desperate for a touch.
The sermon is over, barely heard a word! (I will go back and listen) The thing about our church is though that we communicate during the service and words are read out at the end.
Someone sent in a word today, for someone that needs a difficult conversation at work and that is anxious about this. God’s favour is on you. This sounds like me. Only time will tell. However I lean into God and something happens, something that I have struggled with all week.
Peace.
Peace is with me. God is with me. God is good. The battle may not be over but it is now going in the right direction. Peace is getting stronger and flowing.
May God help you find peace today.
Dear Jesus, You are our rock. The world seems crazy at the moment,like every thing is bonkers. Please stay close with your Sprit, and let your fruit grow within us. Let us be your beacon of light and listen only to you. Steady us when we wobble and stray and keep our eyes only on you. Amen.
Life seems to be a battle at the moment. Too many grey clouds in my head. The enemy has found a crack in my armour, An arrow of lies seeping into my mind.
But lies have no substance, And aren't from my God. A God who sent his Son for me, to die for truth and liberty.
A lie binds and holds you back. It has no basis, no love no future. It wants to keep me chained & depressed. Making me think lifes no good. Making me think I'm no good.
I call out for my saviour, Let him remove the fear, With a cross of love,accepted in my heart so sincere. A weapon to smash all chains, so that I can see the truth appear.
I am more than Ok,happy and blessed. The fuzziness starts to fade in my head, as I remember I am so loved. I am unique, not like you, and for that matter you are not like me, For we are all created and loved individually.
The truth can only smash the lies, As I pray for the fruit of the Spirit, To bring me joy, peace patience and more, And the clouds in my head disappear.
I am a child of God, loved, blessed, free and held. I am only encouraged by all the truth brings, As I open my eyes and let the light in. Let me be the lamp of encouragement, I was made to be.
So if your feeling low today, Know that you are special,loved and free. You are worth EVERYTHING to the one who set you free. Tell the lies you are worth it all the the man who died on the cross for you.
For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth.
Winning a prize. I can’t say I would be happy to win a place in a Marathon, triathlon or Iron man race.
But people do and are even overjoyed by it!
Personally it is not something I would want to do or let my body endure. However people are all different and some people love putting their mental and physical wellbeing through all sorts of strain just to get that bright shiny medal.
There is nothing wrong with this it just isn’t my idea of fun.
My race is life. It’s how I choose to live it. My end goal, prize, shiny medal is eternity in heaven with Jesus.
I can’t just say Jesus I believe your the son of God and that you died for me. Even though he did.
I can’t expect forgiveness every time I tell Jesus I messed up again on purpose. Even though I get that forgiveness. It is limitless.
My race is how I choose to live each day. Do I choose to reflect the light of Jesus in all my actions or hide them under a basket.
Jesus never promises us an easy life. Every one, however perfect their life looks has probably endured or is enduring pain, heartache and hardship.
We can give up on our race in mile 1 or 25 or we can ask the Holy Spirit to sustain and carry us when our endurance feels like it’s done and we just want everything to be over.
The prize at the end will be worth it beyond imagination.
Listening to the news it's hard to to see the joy, Self employed with no income, Redundancies becoming abundant
A pandemic is still real, People getting sick A virus that shouldn't exist, Taking too many lives.
People already sick, Not getting the treatment they need, The grieving not being able, to say goodbye to loved ones, Mourners at a graveside not allowed to hug.
Nurses exhausted, a country on its knees, The government trying to do its best while sleeping comfortably in their beds.
It's hard to see the joy, A hope, an end in sight. When will our country realise, It's not about us?
It's about a God that is real, That wants to heal each breaking heart. A God that is next to you, Waiting to be seen.
A God that won't let our spirits be crushed, A God that understands grief. A God that sent his Son to die, So that we can live.
If your unsure, You may or may not believe, struggling in a pandemic, with hearts and bones drying up.
Try calling out to God today, Accept his Son loves you to the cross and back. Ask for joy and hope today I think your be surprised At the answer you will get.
People are tricky things. I understand why some people want to lock themselves away with their pets and avoid other people at all costs. People can be mean and nasty.
We need people in our lives. We need doctors and nurses to look after our health. People to collect our rubbish and unblock our drains. To service our boilers and cars. We need people for these things and so much more.
We need people we like to give us a hug and advice when life is tough. We need people to pray for us, support us and encourage us.
Sadly as people we don’t always agree, and let prejudices get in the way. It is hard to love one another when you want to slap them round the face. Sadly true emotions and feelings get in the way. Especially went you feel like your hitting your head against a wall.
God commands us to love one another. It’s not a love one another when your playing nice, or their hot, cute or being kind. It is a down right let’s get dirty love. We have to love one another when people people hurt us, challenge us and want to fight us in the trenches.
Loving people is far from easy. It’s something I am not always good at. But when I struggle to love others, I give it to God. Sometimes it is easier than other times. I ask God to bless them and remind myself how I kept Jesus nailed to the cross and ask for peace and vison to see the truth.
It may take time it isn’t always instantaneous. I may never see the truth but as peace falls, anger fades and clarity appears. God takes control.
God doesn’t give up on me, I can’t give up on people who I don’t agree with. God’s will always prevails
Less Nuts More Fruit 