Tag: Grace

Praising in the Pit…

4 Comments

“Focus on remaining so gracious that when the time comes for your testimony, people’s recollection of how you maintained your faith and good character despite going through such a difficult season, will encourage them even more about what it is to truly trust in God.”

Smiling when things are falling apart around you, is possibly one of the most difficult things to do.
It’s hard to laugh, have fun, or even see the good in anything, because your circumstance is saying otherwise.

Today I want to encourage you to  P R A I S E  in the Pit.
And if you cannot think of any reason why it may be worth it, simply consider the fact that you have life, God still loves you perfectly, and His word says He will always be with you – that is more than enough to give Him praise for. (Romans 8:38-39, Deuteronomy 31:6)

In addition to that praise, here are three other key things to do:

1. Continue to do and be G O O D

Don’t allow your situation to make you bitter.
Natural emotions that we may experience when things are tough include;

  • Sadness
  • Frustration
  • Anger
  • Feeling fed up
  • Being irritable
  • Self-pity
  • Loneliness

and many others.

When we feel like this, it’s often difficult to be our usual selves, and in fact it is quite easy to fall into the trap of allowing our emotions to dictate and change who we are, negatively.
One of the most important things I want to tell us is that we must not allow our emotions to rule us. Yes, things aren’t great, but that is no excuse to compromise your character and forget who God has called you to be – which is someone who exudes L O V E at all times. (1 Corinthians 13).
Focus on remaining so gracious that when the time comes for your testimony, people’s recollection of how you maintained your faith and good character despite going through such a difficult season, will encourage them even more about what it is to truly trust in God.

When you find yourself getting into ‘a way’, remember that God’s word tells us a lot about His plans for us. (Jeremiah 29:11, Romans 8:28).
Therefore, knowing God has a greater purpose, plan and will for you, means you cannot allow your energy to match your present situation. Instead, you have to ensure your energy is in line with the greater place God is taking you to! For that reason you need to draw out the praise that is on the inside of you and show God that you are dedicated to praising Him in spite of what is going on in your life. Show Him that your love for Him goes beyond your circumstance and that you truly love Him for who He is, not what He does.

 

2. Don’t obsess over ‘why’

Common perspectives many of us may have adopted throughout life, is that there is a reason for everything and that there is always a lesson to learn from every season you find yourself in. While I agree with both these concepts, we must be careful not to distract ourselves with trying too hard to make them fit into our lives in the most practical or perfect way.

Here’s what I mean by this…
Sometimes God does share ‘why’ He’s taking us through things, other times, He doesn’t.
The point is, if we get so utterly consumed with finding out ‘W H Y’ something is happening to us, or we get fixated on gaining an idealistic lesson out of it, we run the risk of losing focus on how God has truly called us to serve in that season, as well as engaging with God’s actual purpose or lesson for us.
For some of us, our focus on finding out ‘why’ could actually wrongly dissuade us from praising. This is because we subconsciously tell ourselves that we need a reason and purpose for the pain before we can praise in that pit, when actually the word of God encourages us to praise and give thanks in ALL things – good or bad. (1 Thessalonians 5:18).
Focusing on getting a so-called reason or lesson that we deem tangible enough to us, also falsely implies that depending on the answer we get, God could possibly be unworthy of our praise – and this is so far from the truth.
The bible tells us that He is worthy of all praise, honour and glory forever. (1 Timothy 1:17).

 

3. Surrender it all to God

This is the most important bit.
Stop trying to create the ideal outcomes in your mind, and stop trying to help God sort things out your way – just give it to Him and rest in Him.

The bible not only teaches us that we are made for God’s pleasure and to bring glory to His Name (Isaiah 43:7, Isaiah 43:21), but it also very clearly enlightens us that God’s ways are not our ways (Isaiah 55:8-9). Therefore some things may not make sense to us. Some things won’t add up according to how our human minds may try to work them out, and so chasing a reason, or trying to create an artificial lesson that we assume God is trying to teach us, will only leave us exhausted and disappointed.
What we should do instead in these situations, is truly and wholeheartedly seek God and ask Him to enable us to live out His very purpose for us in that situation.
We must learn the art of absolutely surrendering our will and way to God, realising that He is Sovereign and thus actively deciding to allow Him to have His way. This may not be easy – but it’s always worth it.

Worth it;
– because the earlier we surrender, the sooner we have peace.
– because walking with God is so much better than working against Him.
– and because ultimately, we should always desire for God’s perfect will to manifest, as opposed to anything else, as He really does know best!

 

Now get to know God’s Promises

It’s all well and good me encouraging you to trust God and rest in His promises etc., but you need to know His word for yourself, because that is what you have to hold on to.

So here’s a start for verses to use to remind yourself of how well God will carry you through it all, and that there surely is a greater glory awaiting you at the end:

Something crucial to remember in the midst of your pain and unrest, is that regardless of how sour things may seem, God has not, and will not EVER remove His covering over you. This means no scheme of the enemy could ever prevail over you, nor lead you to destruction, rather, just like He did with Joseph, God will turn it all around and use it for His glory and your victory. (Genesis 37:18-28, Genesis 39:21).

The story of Joseph (found in Genesis 37 onward) provides a good example of someone who praised and served his purpose diligently whilst in his pit. In fact his very service to others whilst in jail, is what then delivered him in time to come – but that’s a word for another day.

Admirable examples of other Praisers in their Pits and people who remained faithful to God in the face of adversity are;

Daniel – with friends in the fiery furnace – Daniel 3, in the lion’s den Daniel 6

Paul and Silas – Acts 16:16-40

Job – Job 1, Job 1:20-22, Job 2:10, Job 42:10-17

In each story, as each character served their season of pain/trials with diligence and grace, we see the final outcome was completely worth the strife, especially when it caused others to give their lives to God.
So today I encourage you to keep Praising and keep your heart Faithful to God.
Praise your way into the sweeter season, because you serve a God that would never leave your current situation as your final destination.

Set it in your heart that NOTHING will steal the praise from your lips and the worship of your heart,
Because at the end of the day
God will still be God –
The Sovereign God, who knows best,
So why not Praise Him anyway?!

 

Keep the Faith, Don’t Stop Believing

Song suggestion: Praise Him in advance by Marvin Sapp

*Practical tip: (suggested by a friend and I think is a great idea) Create a playlist of Ten upbeat praise songs! Get into your praise zone with these daily and be reminded of God’s goodness.

The Morning…

2 Comments

“But I will sing of your strength,
    in the morning I will sing of your love;
for you are my fortress,
    my refuge in times of trouble.

 You are my strength, I sing praise to you;
    you, God, are my fortress,
    my God on whom I can rely.”
[Psalm 59:16-17]

 

The beautiful thing about the  M O R N I N G  is that it signifies a new beginning.
It symbolises another chance, and most importantly, it indicates victory.

That victory lies in the fact that yesterday’s struggles did not consume you.
You didn’t give up, you made it to a new day, and God, in His mercy, has kept you for a greater good to come.

Let’s pray with that this Wednesday morning…
Some of us have had a great week so far, and we’re so happy for the positives to continue.
Others may have had what we would deem as a terrible start to the week, and we can’t wait until it’s over.
But let’s remember that our making it to today, is by the grace of God and so we ought to express that gratitude, as well as ask Him to reveal His plan and purpose for this week, to us.

P R A Y E R:

Father,
We thank You for the grace You placed upon us to win yesterday’s battles, and triumph into today!
We ask that from today onwards, we will always realise and be grateful for the huge blessing that lies in seeing another morning.

You know what each of our weeks have looked like thus far, and we ask that You will allow Your perfect will to manifest in each of our lives in Jesus’ name.
We ask that You reveal Your purpose for this week to us. Show us how we can cause Your name to be glorified, and show us how we can walk in Your light and love, being a blessing and inspiration onto others.

For those of us who feel defeated by what Monday and Tuesday threw at us, give us peace and a strong assurance that greater is coming, and help us to be reminded that things always do work out well (Romans 8:28).

Once again we thank You for the privilege to see this new day, we thank You for always being a Reliable and Dependable God, and we ask that You will equip us to go forth and fulfil Your will in the rest of this week, month, year and beyond,
In Jesus’ Name.
A M E N.

 

Friend, take joy in the new hope that lies in every new morning, and be positive enough to mold your day into what you want it to be!

Keep the Faith, Don’t Stop Believing
God Bless you

Christmas Joy

Leave a comment

christmas-party

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” 
[Isaiah 9:6]

It’s our first Christmas on the blog, and it’s super exciting!

All here at Untainted Word are saying thank you so much for reading and supporting all year through, and we are wishing you and your family a Wonderfully Merry, Jolly and Peaceful Christmas, filled with Love, Joy and Smiles all round.

As we get stuck into our gifts and delicious food, let us not forget the true beauty of what we are celebrating during this season.

We celebrate a love which is Unmatched, a love which is Pure and a love which is Unconditional.
We celebrate the birth of the Jesus Christ, the Son of God Himself, who came to suffer, serve and save us, so we could draw nearer to the Father.

So with that said, let us pray…

Father Lord,

First we thank You from the bottom of our hearts for the amazing privilege of seeing this day, Christmas Day 2017, in which we remember the grace and mercy You displayed, by sending Yourself to us in human form.
We ask this day that You fill our homes with great love, joy and peace, which is incomparable to any other.

At a time like this, we remember those who aren’t surrounded by family and friends, and we cry out to You that Your joy and hope will locate them, and Your love will fill every void in Jesus’ name.
We pray that You will grant us a selfless heart, to reach out to them and share Your precious love with them, and we pray that by this time next year, their lives will be transformed for the better!

As we continue on in this festive period, we ask that we will not lose focus on the One who matters most; Jesus, and what He represents; Love.
We ask that You protect and guide us at all times, grant us a holiday season which is conflict-free, and we declare with faith that we will walk graciously into the New Year.

Finally we ask that You will enable us to speak confidently of Jesus, and help us to be bold in order to make Him known to the world!

All this we pray, in Jesus’ Name,
Amen.

Wishing you all the best Christmas ever!
And thank you again for reading.

Keep the Faith, Don’t Stop Believing
God Bless you
Lots of Love xx

Getting Back to Me…

Leave a comment

Sometimes we stray so far away from who we are and what we really stand for, but the grace of God brings us back.

Let’s talk about making the most of that.

You see, what many of us do, is that once we’ve fallen so far by the wayside, and gone so far off course, we feel ashamed to ever come back.
We must understand, however, that coming to the realisation that something isn’t right about the way we’re living, is only by the grace of God, therefore we mustn’t waste that privilege of being able to identify that something has gone wrong…
We mustn’t allow our fear of what people will say, to keep us somewhere that we no longer desire to be…

Of course, we may feel silly, ashamed, foolish, and many other emotions, because people probably advised us against many things that we ended up doing, but chose not to listen.

We finally realise that we’ve made a bad decision, or in some cases, a whole string of bad decisions, but a fear of their reaction to our return, holds us back from making the right turn to get back to who we were…

Getting back to me…

Getting back to the Christ in me…

This is something I feel believers should be more transparent and open about, because the truth is, everyone falls.

And no I’m not saying we should become more accepting of sin and doing wrong, but it’s simply about being more real about the fact that sometimes we may have off days/weeks/months or even years.
Sometimes things happen to us that cause us to fall away, people come into our lives that distract us, or even for no reason at all, we just lose focus, lack wisdom and choose to do things our own way.

It’s kind of like that prodigal son story found in Luke 15:11-32.

Once you’ve read this story, you’ll see that we have three important characters;

The Lost Son – living life his own way, indulging in worldly pleasures, making bad decisions.

The Obedient but Annoyed Brother – living for Christ diligently, listens to instructions, therefore doesn’t understand why there should be a fuss about someone who has only gone and done everything they shouldn’t be doing.

The Compassionate, Forgiving Father – a loving, constant, faithful, amazing God, who understands our human flaws, and is happy when we return to our senses, and return home.

Today I want to talk to us about the fact that at different points in our lives, we may actually find ourselves being able to relate to both sons…

Of course, we desire not to fall and sin and lose our way once we’ve accepted Christ, but sometimes, it happens.
So let’s talk about being The Lost Son…

The magnitude of how lost we are, or how lost we become, can vary between each person. So when I speak about being lost here, I’m talking about when we find ourselves out of character and living in a way that just doesn’t identify with what we truly believe in, or what we know we should be doing for Christ. Therefore this could be the smallest thing or the biggest, but it’s just anything we’ve been doing over and over again that isn’t pleasing in God’s sight; anything that is ruining our witness to the gospel.

My message for you today is, don’t be afraid to go home – to Get back to the real you, and get back to the Christ in you.
Understand that your mistakes do not define who you are, and just like the son in the story, God sees your remorse (Luke 15:18-19) and will welcome you with open arms (Luke 15:20).
Do not be ashamed to admit your faults. Don’t allow pride and shame to keep you in sin, but rather be open about your weaknesses with your brothers and sisters in the body of Christ and allow the mercy of God to turn your heart around and right your wrongs.
Embrace Getting Back to You, and you’ll be surprised who you inspire to do the same.

Now many of us may find ourselves in the position of The Obedient but Annoyed Brother, many times in our lives.
We just don’t understand how/why someone will choose to do all the things they’ve done. And therefore we get irritated and feel like they should know better.

My message for you each time you’re in this position will be the same, and that is, don’t judge and don’t push them away.
We have to show compassion just as our Father does, and even if we are going to advise them on their wrongs in order to help them not to fall again, let us ensure that we do this love.
Our work begins not only when our brother/sister finally realises their wrong, but actually, it starts from when we first see them venturing off (Galatians 6:1-2).
Let us be a constant voice that encourages them to come back, and let us ensure they know that they have someone to speak to if ever they need to.
When they’re back home, we ought to let the found soul feel warm, and let them know that we accept the new and true them, which is who they are in Christ. Therefore let’s refrain from making references to when, and what they did whilst lost, as a constant reminder of this may just push them back there.
As heaven rejoices over them, let us rejoice too (Luke 15:7, Luke 15:32).

I’ll finish by saying this; Getting Back to Me embraces the fact that who we are in Christ, is our true self.
Therefore I want to encourage us not to be ashamed of letting people know that we were once lost.
Allowing people to be open about their weaknesses, rather than hiding them and suffering in silence, means that they can receive the support, help and accountability that will actually enable them to overcome the various things they struggle with.
Therefore as the body of Christ, let us create an environment that enables people to discuss their flaws (with remorse and a desire to change), and let us provide the opportunity and support for them to grow into their True Christ-like self.

Keep the Faith, Don’t Stop Believing
God Bless you.

#GettingBackToMe
#GettingBackToTheChristInMe
#MoreThan100PeoplePraying

 

 

Jesus’ Eyes

Leave a comment
It’s unbelievable right?!
It looks like there’s no coming out of this – pretty much impossible, right?

How many times have we seen and perceived an issue in our lives as a complete dead-end?

But quick question; are you still in it now?
Or did God (as usual) come through for you and bring you out of it?
He brought you out didn’t He? 🙂
(Haha), But I thought you said it was impossible?

You see friend, when we look with our own eyes, we see a problem.
But when we look with Jesus’ eyes, we are enabled to see an opportunity; an opportunity to be used by God to show forth, and proclaim His power and glory.

In John 6:1-15, when Jesus fed a multitude of people with what started off as just a mere
5 loaves of bread and 2 fishes, His disciples could initially only see the problem.
They could only see the fact that there were over 5000 people following the Messiah, and there was no way they could possibly find something for all of them to eat.

I wonder if in that moment they forgot who Jesus really was…

We have the tendency to do this too!
Number One: We forget that this Jesus is the Chosen One, the Saviour who conquered death and is therefore above ALL things.
Impossible doesn’t exist with Him!

Number Two: We only see the problem, when really we should see the opportunity for God to move.

Friend, let us change our way of thinking –
Let us move towards trusting God with our ‘complicated’ situations, and seeing the opportunity for Him to move and prove Himself strong, rather than seeing ‘no way out’.

Let us realise that the more we depend on God, the more He manifests Himself and performs Wonders.
The more God sees our trust in Him, the more He’ll use us to be living examples of His Grace and Glory – and my oh my, that, is a beautiful priviledge!

I’m praying with you this evening,
Let’s say;
Father, I speak it in Jesus’ Name, that I have a heart that truly trusts You!
I declare that I will always see, that every situation that arises in my life, that may appear to my human eyes as a road-block, is actually an opportunity for You to
M O V E  in my life and bring out a testimony for all to see.
Help me to see things with Jesus’ eyes!
Help me to never forget the power that lies in the name of Jesus, and help my faith to never waver.
Going into this new week, I see possibilities galore, I see no limitations and I pray that I will be used by You, to show Your Glory and Might, and people will desire to know You more through what they see in my life,
In Jesus’ Mighty name,
Amen.

Keep the Faith, Don’t Stop Believing
God Bless you.

Grace… Even though I don’t Deserve it

4 Comments

NOTE: This is a PFP – Personal Founder Post:
Untainted Word isn’t a personal blog, therefore I believe it’s appropriate for you to get a heads up if a post is going to be one of these ‘PFPs’.
Every now and then, certain topics will be easier and better explained with real life and personal examples. 
Whilst they’re still inspired by God, they’ll most likely also contain details of specific things that occurred/happened to me as an individual, in order to give you a full picture, and better understanding of whatever the point it is.
This post is the first of its kind… I hope you enjoy 🙂

Now this is the thing about the Grace of God.

Nothing that you actually DO, can earn it, or remove it from your life.

When God has covered you with His Grace – that’s it, you’re covered.

(Sometime later, in another post, we’ll talk about not taking grace for granted, but today let’s talk about enjoying grace and understanding what it really is).

I’ll tell you something God taught me the other day…

Now, I launched Untainted Word on January 16th 2017.
I’ve been pretty consistent with ensuring posts go up every Sunday and Wednesday as I said they would.
However in the past week and a half – I’ve slacked…

I’ve allowed everything else to get in the way, e.g. exams, and other things, I haven’t organised myself well, and so I’ve been putting off posting and haven’t sat down to just listen to what God has to say, in order for me to write and share.

As if that isn’t enough, I was also LATE to church two Sundays in-a-row. And as a choir member and worship leader, this wasn’t good enough, especially as it meant that I couldn’t give my service to God as I ought to.

For me, I don’t like to disappoint God.
I mean, when you love someone, the last thing you want to do is disappoint them, or let them down, or neglect them.
I felt like I had done all of the above to God in the past week/ten days, and so my human mind went into a mode of thinking I would see the consequences of God’s disappointment, through misfortune and ‘No’s’ as the answers to my prayers.

Who else has ever done/felt like this?
Who else sometimes just anticipates the manifestation of negative things and awkward situations, because you know you haven’t been giving God your best recently?

I’m sure a lot of us sometimes believe that that’s the next step, and so we even get ready to accept a streak of bad, bad, bad, until we feel like we’ve gotten our act together and are back in right standing with God, where we then deserve the ‘good’.

Well bad, bad, bad, was nowhere near my portion.
In fact, in the midst of all my short-comings before God, I received a ‘Yes’ to at least three major prayers in my life and in the life of friends.

Someone say ‘GRACE’…

Grace is what enables God’s blessings to still manifest, even when you’re not necessarily doing the right thing or in the right place.

Grace is what allows you to still reach your God-ordained destination in life, despite you straying so far off the path beforehand.

Grace is what permits us to be saved, through the Love of God and the act of Jesus Christ, and therefore we can now have a relationship with God, draw closer to Him, and reign in heaven with Him after physical death.

Grace is the supernatural, courteous good will of God which focusses not on our sins, but simply on the Love He has for us – therefore bringing us back to a place of blessing, mercy, and positivity regardless of the circumstance.

Be it in your relationship with God, or even with your actions and decisions in life,
Grace doesn’t look at your works as a criteria to decide whether or not you receive it.

And that is what we should understand…
Grace wouldn’t be Grace, if we had to work for it;

“And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace.
But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work.”
[Romans 11:6]

So stop thinking it’s determined by you.
And stop thinking of all these ways that God will ‘deal with you’, because you haven’t given Him your best.

In one of the moments of receiving good news, despite my sincere gratitude, I felt so unworthy…

I said to God, “I don’t deserve this.”

But He replied,
“Even when you’re not giving Me your best, I still love and come through for you,
I just want you to love Me back and love Me more”.

God’s simple desire of a child who Loves Him is never-changing;

“So he answered and said,
“ ‘You shall love the Lord your God
with all your heart,
with all your soul,
with all your strength,
and with all your mind,’…”
[Luke 10:27]

But sometimes we forget this, and our behaviour and actions don’t reflect someone who loves Him at all.
Therefore believe it or not, sometimes the Grace of God actually serves as a reminder of  the fact that He is faithful to His word in Romans 8:28, and so it encourages us to get back on track with Loving God, wholeheartedly; with our words, our service, our actions and our entire lives!
It encourages us to focus back on God and give Him our  B E S T.

As overwhelming as it may be to comprehend, God doesn’t withdraw His grace, favour, mercy, kindness, or hand of blessing from our lives when we’re in our mess and muck.

The truth is, God’s Grace goes far beyond our human imagination, therefore when we’re expecting a spiteful reaction to our failure before Him, He just shows us His consistency and faithfulness.
With God’s Grace, there’s no such thing as ‘too good to be true’,
And the concept of something negative needing to happen, in order to balance out all the positives you’ve been experiencing, is also a lie!

The Grace of God; Unmerited Favour of God, is  R E A L.

So let’s pray tonight and always, that our hearts will be able to accept and enjoy the Grace of God, and never question it.

Keep the Faith, Don’t stop Believing
God Bless you.

March, Be Good to Me…

2 Comments

The 1st of March 2017.

Welcome to the third month of 2017 (ALREADY!!!).

Each time we reach a new month, we seem to look back at the distance we’ve travelled since the beginning of the year.

The first day of the month is always a good opportunity to stop, look back and evaluate what has happened in our lives, in the year so far.

Some of you may look back with joy and a sense of pride, because you’ve achieved both the expected and even unexpected.
Others may feel contrasting emotions; disappointment and hurt, because things haven’t gone according to how you would have liked.

To the people that fall into the latter category, can you guess what I’m going to say next?

Yep! I’m going to tell you,

It’s okay…

Now understand me, I don’t say this to make you falsely feel better about yourself, or feel like you can settle for less, or drop the standards you have created for yourself.
I don’t say this in order to validate any excuses you made in place of some of the achievements that you ought to have obtained, and neither do I say this to make you feel like it’s fine to not reach your goals and just drop them halfway, but I say this to remind you of the beautiful…

Grace and MERCY

…of the Most High God.

“Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence,
so that we may receive mercy
and find grace to help us in our time of need.”
[Hebrews 4:16]

I need you to remember this verse when the world tells you it’s too late or you’ve gone too far – remember that you can always still approach the throne, and remember that He who sits on that throne, is rich in mercy…

“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.”
[Ephesians 2:4-5]

Now I know we all love Grace so much – the unmerited favour of the Most High God, but today I want us to explore MERCY a bit more – what is it and what does the bible say about it?

Mercy; (according to the Oxford dictionary)

  1. Compassion or forgiveness shown towards someone whom it is within one’s power to punish or harm
  2. An event to be grateful for, because it prevents something unpleasant or provides relief from suffering.

 

Now the bible, having read the the two verses above, encourages us to approach God and ask for mercy (compassion or forgiveness) when we are in need, and it gives us the confidence to do this, because we’re told He is rich, overflowing, saturated in mercy.

The bible also tells us that;

“The Lord is merciful and loving,
    slow to become angry and full of constant love.“
[Psalm 103:8]

So what does this mean for us?

Well firstly it doesn’t mean that we should go around intentionally messing things up, or not trying our best, in the hope that God will have compassion on our careless behaviour, because though He is slow to anger, He also is not a fool (Galatians 6:7) and will not be mocked.

Thankfully, what it does mean, is that a God who is ‘constant in love‘, is telling you that He won’t withdraw His compassion from you just because you make a mistake/wrong decision.
This means therefore that we shouldn’t think it’s over just because it didn’t work the first time.
It means we shouldn’t write ourselves off and beat ourselves up about things we may have done wrong, or failed to do.

It means, yes, we got things wrong/made mistakes/misjudged situations, but there are steps we can take to ensure growth and improvement from the circumstance –
1) Being remorseful where appropriate,
2) Learning the lesson in that season,
3) Praying for the Spirit of God to completely overtake our fleshly desires which cause us to fall (Galatians 5:13-26).

The Mercy of God is here for each and everyone of us, giving us the ability to start afresh and get it right with the wisdom of God and be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2).
The Mercy of God is what reduces what seems like a massive error to you, to absolutely nothing, because He trusts you to take this new chance, and do it with His will in mind, and therefore do it better.

 

I’m praying for a March of Mercy for us all…

Let us say these few lines of prayer together:

Wherever I have gone wrong, Father help me to put things right.

Whenever I have given up, Father help me to get back on track, and keep pushing.

Whatever good I have unknowingly let go of, Father allow me to meet with it again and grab hold of it and make proper use of it this time.

However I have fallen out of Your will, and/or done things that aren’t of Christ, Father empower me to get back up, put on Your armor and walk the walk I ought to walk with Christ Jesus.

March, be Good to me…
in Jesus’ Mighty Name,
Amen.

(Also have a read of Micah 7:18 and Psalm 51:1-2, and use them in a prayer for Mercy).

Keep the Faith, Don’t Stop Believing
God Bless you.

 

My Gift; My Service

Leave a comment

Let’s read:

“Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.  If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.”
[1 Peter 4:10-11] 

Okay, so let’s pick this apart a bit.
A few things stood out to me when reading this;
Gift
Service
God.

Gift

So a gift (according to the Oxford dictionary definition) is;

  1. a thing given willingly to someone without payment,
  2. a natural ability or talent.

God has willingly given each of us a gift (or even multiple gifts [plural]), without us paying a single penny for it, and He graciously and carefully designed these gifts when He was creating us, therefore we find that they are things we naturally flourish in and are talented in.

Now look at this, though many of us may have a gift that seems the same on the outside e.g. the ability to sing/dance/draw etc. – it is still a very different and unique gift that God gave to YOU for a reason!
So I guess that’s the first thing we should address – we should never see our gifts as something un-special, or common, or something that someone else can easily do!
We have to realise that in being fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14), God has knitted us together purposefully, knowing exactly what qualities and abilities He has put in us that will complement our gift in order to make it Different and Great!
No one will ever use your gift like you can, and for that reason I need you to know and believe that it is Special, Unique, and most importantly NEEDED!

Service 

Your Gifts Birth your Service on this earth.
And as mentioned above, friend, the service that your gift brings, is Needed.

“…just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
[Matthew 20:28]

One of Jesus’ names is ‘The Son Of Man’, it describes the fact that Jesus came to earth to serve, therefore in being like Christ, service to others is a major part of our lives!
It is therefore very important for us to truly tap into the talent that we have, no matter what it is.
The only way we can truly thrive on this earth, and be ‘in our element’, and fulfil the purpose of God for our lives, is by using our God-given gifts and using them well!
The bible tells us that we ought to be ‘stewards of God’s grace, in its various forms’ – so this says two things;
1 – That our service is important because we represent God in our communities and in whatever we are doing.
2 – That God’s grace can be displayed in ‘various forms’, therefore we must appreciate that we each have something different, and something authentic to offer with our gifts.

You see, many of us bury the talent or the skills we have because we feel like the field is already occupied or overpopulated!
But this is definitely the wrong idea, if we read Matthew 25:14-30, we see that the servant who buried his talent ended up losing it, because he displayed an irresponsible and ungrateful attitude!
None of us want to lose what God has given us.
So stop thinking about others, be thankful for the gift He has graced you with, and step forth with your gift and begin to serve with it.

If you sing, you better do re mi away.
If you’re a poet, please word play till kingdom come!
If you’re a make-up artist, friend you better decorate those faces like your life depends on it!

Pardon my dramatic sentences, but I just want us to appreciate how important it is for us to NOT be afraid, and NOT compare ourselves to others, and just go for it, because the world needs what we have inside of us.

“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” 
[Matthew 5:14-16]

God 

Let us thank Him everyday for our gift and ask Him to refresh and revive it and increase our anointing in Jesus’ name!

The verse we read at the beginning talks about ‘the strength God provides’ and this is one of the most important things to remember.
Our help and our strength comes from the Lord God Almighty – it is He who enables us to use our Gifts in the best way possible.
Therefore we shouldn’t ever try to do it all on our own, neither should we do it for personal praise or recognition.
The gift that we have is one that should be offered back to God, for Him to bless it, and direct us at all times to know exactly how we should put it to use, so that in all things His may be praised.

I pray that you will enjoy your gifts, and keep them alive by using them as much as you can to bless and impact others.
Friend, I encourage you to Love your gift; love the fact that God has given it to you, and love the fact that God has given you the opportunity to use it (that special thing), no matter how unorthodox, to Glorify His name, through Christ Jesus.

Please Please, don’t ever stop using your gift, God has given me this message for you, saying;
‘Do the best you can do with it, and watch how I myself will build and improve You.’

Remember, the Gift wasn’t given by mistake.

Keep the Faith, Don’t Stop Believing
God Bless you.