Tag: Trust

TWENTY TWENTY-ONE

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If 2020 taught us anything, it would be the importance of absolute dependence on God.
In the midst of uncertainty and continuous change, God, His love and His protection were the only things that remained constant, thus allowing us to remain grounded.

So here’s a word for 2021…
And it comes from Isaiah 26:3-4;

You will keep him in perfect peace,
Whose mind is stayed on You,
Because he trusts in You.
Trust in the Lord forever,
For in Yah, the Lord, is everlasting strength.

Isaiah 26:3-4

In 2021, my encouragement to you is to keep God at the  C E N T R E  of your heart, and allow Him to drive perfect  P E A C E  into every area of your life at all times. T R U S T  in Him and keep Him at the core of absolutely everything you do, so that regardless of the winds that blow and the storms that rage, you’ll still be able to stand strong, stand firm and bask in that  E V E R L A S T I N G  S T R E N G T H  He’s endowed you with. 

In the worldly view of life, the idea of self-sufficiency is praised and applauded, however that is the complete opposite of God’s instruction to us in His Word (Proverbs 3:5-6). God specifically asks us to depend on Him as opposed to leaning on our own understanding, and it’s because He knows that He has the divine omniscience and omnipotence that we require and cannot find elsewhere, no matter how hard we search for it.
He has the ultimate plan for our lives, therefore what better place to draw from, than the Source and Fountain of Life? 

We need to walk closely with God in 2021. It’s that simple. 

There are so many benefits to reap when we walk with Him. 
But even putting all material gain aside, the idea of an everlasting strength alone should excite us and encourage us to forever dwell in Him. Because the description of the strength in this verse is an indication of the fact that you will ALWAYS have all you need to get through anything you’ll EVER come across. 

The peace described in this verse is an assurance that in spite of any trials, your heart will always find  R E S T  in Him. Even when you can’t explain it, or understand it – you’ll always have a stillness, a calmness and a resolve in Christ Jesus that no man or circumstance can take away. 
I’ll plant a few verses here that describe the type of peace the bible promises to us – nothing that a man or woman can give – but a divine, heavenly, immeasurable P E A C E – John 14:27, Philippians 4:7. 

In 2021, I encourage you to  A B I D E  in the Father.

“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”

John 15:4-5

Though life prior to this year may have forced you to grind on your own, and be independent; this year I want you to drop your guard, drop that self-sufficiency and take all that strength you’ve built up, to God, so He can multiply it abundantly. 

The truth is we can do NOTHING without Him. So even though some of the tough experiences we’ve faced may have pushed us to build up walls and a fierce attitude towards pursuing what we want – God desires for us to trust that He really will supply all our needs (Philippians 4:19). He desires a vulnerability from us that displays our obedience to 100% surrender to His will, and a heart that says ‘yes’ to doing things His way. 

My prayer for you…

Is that this year you’ll stay rooted in Christ Jesus.
No matter what life throws at you, and that’s both the good or the bad –  I pray that you will trust Him, and that praise and thanksgiving to the King will never depart from your lips.
May your heart crave God on both your best and worst days, and may your faith never waiver.
May you remember that you have an everlasting strength, and so be able to activate it when you need it most. 
And may the perfect peace of God keep you grounded and confident of your victory in spite of any rocky paths. 
In Jesus’ Mighty Name, Amen.

In 2021 – You are going to Win!
Because that’s the ONLY destination any journey with God can lead to! 

I’m excited for you! 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Keep the Faith, Don’t Stop Believing

Service in the Pit

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The last thing I’m thinking of doing when I’m in a place I DO NOT want to be, is get comfortable or acquainted with anything or anyone related to that place.

I’m here
But only passing by
I’m not building a nest
I’m not making friends
I’m not making any permanent moves
And the rant goes on… 

But just as you ramble on about how fast you want the hardship to pass, I must share an important message with you: 

God has a bigger purpose for you in that pain –
So just be quiet and listen. Be attentive and obey. 

Let us take a look at the story of Joseph in the bible; when he was thrown into prison, he served his way through. Without a doubt, there may have been days when he was fed up, irritated, and down, but he did not allow this to stop him from moving when he was called to. Today I encourage you to allow God to direct you in every single season of your life, as this enables His full glory to manifest in ways unimaginable. 

While there’s a bigger back story to Joseph, let us skip to Genesis 39, as that’s our focus for today. Here we’re told about when Joseph is thrown into prison based on false accusations. (Genesis 39:19-20). 

Some of us have found ourselves in positions where we feel cheated, treated unjustly, and completely undeserving of the misfortune that has come upon us. But what we must hold on to, is that even though we are in a place that we really do not believe is for us, God is still right there in that pit with us. The very next verse we read gives us proof of this as it says ‘But the Lord was with Joseph in the prison and showed him His faithful love.’ (Genesis 39:21).
You must remember this at all times as a key fact – that no pit or prison or negative circumstance will ever be big enough to separate you from the perfect, reckless love of God. (Romans 8:31-39, song – Reckless Love). 

As we read on in this story, we’re enlightened that not only does God’s love saturate Joseph, but God also covers him with His perfect favour, thus causing him to find favour in the eyes of man; 

‘And the Lord made Joseph a favorite with the prison warden. Before long, the warden put Joseph in charge of all the other prisoners and over everything that happened in the prison. The warden had no more worries, because Joseph took care of everything. The Lord was with him and caused everything he did to succeed.’ (Genesis 39:21-23)

Let this story speak to you – God’s favour upon you will make a way in every wilderness of your life (Isaiah 43:19). What I mean by this is that even when you, and everyone around you least expects it, God will still create avenues to show forth that He is holding you up INTENTIONALLY, with a master plan at work (Jeremiah 29:11), despite the muddiness of your situation.

Now, having outlined the unwavering faithfulness of God our Father, I want us to look at the part of this topic encompassing the key word in the title;  S E R V I C E. 

You see, what Joseph did not do, is reject the opportunity to be in charge of all the other prisoners. He did not allow anger or bitterness of his circumstance to hinder the various ways God was still showing His grace upon him in his situation.
In fact, when we go further in this story, there came a time when Joseph’s gift was required and he willingly put it to good use.
(Paraphrased, so please read Genesis 40 fully in your own time) Pharaoh became angry with two of his officials and threw them into jail. They each had dreams which Joseph had the gift to interpret and so he did, and everything happened just as he had interpreted. 

The lesson I am drawing out here is that we must be attentive to opportunity and keep a gracious heart even when we are in that undesired place. Most definitely this is easier written/read/said than done, however at least if we keep it as a mindful prayer point, Christ will indeed enable us to adopt this positive outlook.
If God can uphold His faithfulness to us wherever we are in life, then we too should be determined to uphold our diligence of serving and honouring God and showing forth His love to our neighbours, even if things in our lives are a little sour. Regardless of what our circumstance looks like, the world around us still has great need of what God has planted inside of us. Therefore it is not good enough for us to think we can just hang up our duties for God’s kingdom because we’re angry or dissatisfied with our present situation. As children who were created to fulfil a purpose on this earth, we must never allow our hurt or pain to stop us from doing God’s work.

Why is this important?
Well apart from the fact that it demonstrates a wholehearted desire to please and worship God at all times, it’s also because you just never know which part of your actions, service and obedience to God’s instructions will pave a way in time to come.
Just as the bible tells us that our gifts will make room for us (Proverbs 18:16), so it did in the case of Joseph. And so it could be for you too!
When the time was right in accordance with God’s will, the chief cup-bearer remembered Joseph’s service when Pharaoh required an interpretation of his own dream. (Please read Genesis 41 fully for this section of the story). 

You must realise the magnitude of the effect of Joseph’s simple action to serve in jail, as one that is HUGE! His ability to be patient in affliction (Romans 12:12) and to willingly serve in a time of trial, rather than throw a strop and despise God’s work, is what elevated him to the highest position he would ever reach in his lifetime (which he could then use to save an entire generation of people). (Genesis 41:41-44).

Today I’m encouraging you to please stay faithful to the work God has called you to, regardless of the ‘mess’ you are in.
I completely understand that initially you may not want to; you may feel disappointed, abandoned, let down and even neglected by God for permitting the hardship to take place. However, take example from Joseph and just see this pit as an important part of your journey to the highest position in your life. Ask Christ Jesus to soften your heart, keep you gracious and make you able to maintain a positive attitude, thus enabling you to operate in love towards everyone you encounter. 

Whilst the pit is indeed not your destination, there is still an important reason for it in your life, so change your perspective of how you view it!
By no means am I asking you to get comfortable and build a home there, however I am reminding you to shake off any negative emotions that may hinder you from fulfilling your purpose in that season. A diligently served season of strife, will surely pave forward the way of victory in time to come – remember every single detail of your life has been carefully orchestrated by an All-knowing God, who makes no mistakes (Romans 8:28).
So put to death all the doubt and negative emotions of the flesh, and be alive in your spirit-man/woman – yielding to the direction of the Holy Spirit every step of the way to surely get you to that promised greater future.  

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.” (Philippians 4:8-9)

“But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.” (2 Timothy 4:5)

Keep the Faith, Don’t Stop Believing

Through Christ…

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Overwhelmed?

Just think for a second…

Are you leaning on your own understanding?

Are you relying on your own strength?

Are you trying to do everything all by yourself?

Sometimes when we get stuck and overwhelmed, and feel like we’re literally over-stretched with responsibilities and tasks to fulfil, we ought to stop and ask ourselves; by which strength are we trying to do it all?

Yes, friend, this is the best time to reassess the way we’re functioning and really ask ourselves;

Are we resting on our own power, or on God’s?
Are we depending on our own human strength, knowledge and wisdom, or are we giving everything up to God and saying ‘I surrender my plans, tasks, responsibilities to You, work through me!’?

I don’t know why we do it, but many of us have made Jesus a mere spectator in our lives as we run our race, rather than our personal Coach!

And we’ve got to realise this – if we only give Jesus front-row tickets to watch us ‘do our thing’, then He’ll get the message, and understand that we don’t want His input.
Yes, He may be close enough for us to hear Him, but as He knows that we invited Him to watch us do it our own way, He will simply assume the position and just watch.

As our Coach, however, Jesus is our strength and encouragement every step of the way! Front-row seats or not, we will have a sensitivity to His voice to hear Him whenever He speaks to guide us on the journey.
The fact that we work closely with Him daily, and have decided to trust in Him and trust in His direction, means we will be able to take on board every tip, skill, and instruction that He offers in order to ensure that we run well!

So with that being said, ask yourself;

Have I told Jesus to Watch me or Direct me?

If you realise that He’s simply watching from the sidelines, despite His love and desire to lead you aright, then it’s time to seek forgiveness and mercy, and ask Jesus to take the lead and have His way.

The Bible says that we should acknowledge the Lord in all our ways, and He will direct our paths. (Proverbs 3:6)

Therefore rather than struggling to juggle everything, and barely making it work, why not place Jesus at the centre of it all, and allow Him to direct your path, just as the word says?
Trust me, even if it seems like a lot to the human eye, when you are doing it ‘Through Christ‘, you’ll see that you are more than capable of fulfilling it all, and then some.

So friend, please allow Jesus to take the appropriate role in your life.

 

I hope this blesses your Wednesday evening, and I also take this opportunity to apologise for the lack of posts in the past three weeks!

I myself had to knuckle down during university exam time, but we’re back now, and God willing back with better time management and organisation skills, as Jesus is the one steering!

I pray the rest of your week is saturated with favour, strength and grace, in Jesus’ name. Amen!

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

 

Perfect Peace; Isaiah 26:3

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So here’s a PFP* for you this Wednesday afternoon.

Today, I woke up feeling overwhelmed.

I have so much work to do, so little time, and it’s no one else’s fault but mine.
(Haha, that rhyme was not intentional, I guess I’m a natural [Cheeky grin]).

Anyway,
Having tried to do this essay so many times, and having dedicated so much time to it, the exam I have next Friday has crept up on me, and I definitely haven’t done adequate revision for that either!

So my mind wasn’t rested this morning. And the human in me was quite worried, in fact, very worried.
On the other hand, there’s the Spirit in me, that knows it’ll all be fine at the end of the day, but still the flesh always challenges it, because I know that the bible says faith without works is dead (James 2:14-26), therefore I know I need to do the works part.

So anyway, I saw my academic mentor this afternoon, because we had scheduled a general meeting a few weeks ago, to see how it’s all going, and of course when I got there, I explained the fact that I feel like I’m struggling a little at this present moment.

And here is God…

She gave me different resources to use in my essay, and also advised me to not think too hard about it, and just get something done!
I left that meeting feeling and knowing that I can and will do it.

What’s my point here?

My point is that we should keep our hope in the Lord at all times, and trust that He will always bring us to perfect peace in our times of absolute chaos/worry/panic.

This morning, despite my worrying, I remember that there was a tiny hope I had in the meeting that I was going to attend with my mentor. I knew that God would send me some sort of direction through her, and that she would say something that would remind me that there’s still time to turn it around…

I couldn’t think of anything more real to share with you all today…

I want you to remember that there is ALWAYS still time to turn it around.

If you can just find that tiny hope that is still alive somewhere in your heart, grab it, hold on to it, and let it be the driving force, when the rest of you wants to give up.

The bible in Isaiah 26:3 says,

“You will keep in perfect peace
    all who trust in you,
    all whose thoughts are fixed on you!”

Take this word as your truth today and always.

Even if everything around you is falling down and crumbling, God will maintain an incomparable peace in your heart, to keep you calm, unworried, and level-headed, to get through it.

What you have to do, is just make sure you Trust in Him (Isaiah 26:4). And Trust in the Process.
Trust Him so deeply, that even when your flesh wants to worry, your Spirit holds on to His word and looks up in faith, to Him.
Make sure that your focus is right – let your thoughts be fixed on Him, let your mind be steadfast in Him, knowing that,
He. Is. Able.

I pray for you today,
That you’ll locate that tiny hope that’s somewhere within you, and allow it to usher in the great peace that God gives, to keep you calm, and keep you going, in the midst of what seems like a crazy muffle of too much!

Remember, You can do it 🙂

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

 

*PFP = Personal Founder Post; a word with a personalised twist to help portray the message better *

Take it to Jesus

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Today I’ll tell you why Jesus is the best person to consult, lean on, seek advice from, and rest in confidently, whenever you’re going through ‘it’.

Let’s read;

“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathise with our weaknesses, but we have One who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet He did not sin.”
[Hebrews 4:15]

It’s quite natural to feel a bit more confident to seek and follow advice if the person giving it has been through that thing before.

I’m sure many of us find greater comfort in consulting someone who has past experience, or appropriate knowledge about our current situation, than in someone who doesn’t.

So look at Jesus…

Though a Prince, He didn’t live in a palace whilst He was on earth.
Yes He was and is Divine, but the bible tells us that He came to suffer and serve (Matthew 20:28), and live just like one of us.
He endured the same things that we would, took on the heavy burden of sins that He had nothing to do with, but here’s why He did it – because through His physical ‘living out’ of various things, He taught us how to live;
Through His dying and rising, He conquered every problem, temptation, issue, situation and circumstance that would ever face us.

So, tell me, who do you think you should take your issues to?
Who do you think will be well-informed, and greatly knowledgeable to advise you correctly about how you should deal with x, y, and z?

J E S U S  has not only made Himself available to us as a teacher, but He’s also a Best Friend.
He’s dependable and constant, and to top it all off, He has wisdom above all of mankind.
Therefore His advice and direction supersedes anything anyone else could ever say.

Now of course, God speaks through men and women in our lives.
He’ll speak through our family, friends, pastors, etc., however what I want us to take from today is the importance of making Jesus our ultimate source of this advice.

When we take our questions to Him, when we take our confusion about how to move next, to Him, then He will surely give us peace to openly receive and follow the words of direction given by the people mentioned above.
In fact if He doesn’t speak directly to us Himself, then it’ll be Him that will direct us to go and talk to whomever, and He will inspire the words they speak to us.

Taking it to Jesus isn’t something I’m assuming is correct, but actually the bible even tells us to ‘approach the throne of grace’ in our time of need;

“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]

When we do this, we’ll find the answer, the guidance and the solution that we require.

Now have a look at this;

“Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.”
[1 John 5:1-5]

This passage is a reassurance of the victory we have in Jesus. So why wouldn’t we trust and run to Him?
It does also however remind us of the fact that we must have faith, and we must truly believe in Jesus.
So putting both these passages together; Hebrews 4:15-16 and 1 John 5:1-5 – here’s what I can tell you confidently;

There is Nothing; no temptation, no trial, and no sort of disappointment that can ever consume you, and there is no issue, no circumstance, and no problem that is too big for you to overcome and triumph over!
Friend, when Jesus is your King, and you have been reborn in Him, winning is embedded in your new nature!

Please always hold on to that.

Before we go, I want us to look at one really important part of the Hebrews verse;

It says that Jesus is able to empathise with us!

This tells me therefore, that Jesus really really gets it.
He has literally ‘been there before’, and so there couldn’t be a better person who fully understands what we’re going through.
This tells me that Jesus will not judge you for crying when you’re in that situation.
He won’t look at you like you’re crazy, when you express the fact that you’re upset and you’re broken.
He won’t look down on you for being tempted or desiring what you shouldn’t.

Rather, Jesus will comfort you and let you know that He feels what you feel.
He’ll hold you tight and remind you of the fact that He overcame that very situation, and so by His strength, and by the Power in His name, you most definitely will too!

No matter what it is;
Take it to Jesus; a Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God. (Isaiah 9:6)

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

 

Cast your Cares…

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The bible says ‘Cast your cares…’

And there’s a good reason for it!

Because if we didn’t put those worries just somewhere else, onto someone else, they would literally drive us mad. 

The amount of things our minds need to think of, comprehend and process in one day is truly unthinkable.
Now then to add unfortunate circumstances, negative outcomes and bad news into this mix – it would physically and mentally be unbearable. 

So here is what the bible teaches us to do, when we are feeling overwhelmed with problems, consumed with grief, and it just feels like so many things are going wrong… 

“Casting all your cares
[all your anxieties, all your worries, and all your concerns, once and for all]
on Him, for He cares about you
[with deepest affection, and watches over you very carefully].”
[1 Peter 5:7]

Cast your Cares. 

It says give your worries, your anxieties, your troubles, your concerns, all unto Jesus – Your Lord, who saves, who redeems, who looks after…

The bible assures us that He will carry our heavy load, and relieve us from the strain and the weight of ‘life’ that we’ve been carrying on our shoulders…

“Then Jesus said,
“Come to me,
all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens,
and I will give you rest.”
[Matthew 11:28]

The bible assures us that we will be made to stand firm, strong, tall, and steady, because God Himself will sustain us….

“Cast your cares on the Lord
    and he will sustain you;
he will never let
    the righteous be shaken.”
[Psalm 55:22]

He will not allow us to ‘slip and fall’….

Cast

Your

Cares.

You see there is a sense of peace, in running away from those problems for a second. And that’s what some of us do, when we turn to external, worldly things to relieve the pain, the hurt and the worry. We run away, but only for a time.

But let’s talk about true peace…

“And the peace of God,
which surpasses all understanding,
will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
[Philippians 4:7]

When we run into Jesus, and hide in Him, what we are given is not temporary like that of the world’s.
No this peace is not a false feeling found in ‘quick-fixes’ from the world, but rather the true Peace of God provides us with a permanent escape, a permanent resting place.

When you Cast your Cares, you receive great Peace from entrusting all these issues into the hands of a Man who actually isn’t a mere man and is truly divine and conquered death and therefore through conquering death actually now sits at the right hand of God and has power above every single issue that confronts you.

When you Cast your Cares you allow yourself to Get Away.
Yes friend, Casting your Cares provides your mind with a holiday – it takes you away from the stress and the strife, but the better difference is that once you give it to Jesus, unlike a physical holiday, you don’t have the concept of returning home to ‘reality’.
With Jesus, your new found peace is maintained throughout your home (your heart). Peace becomes your reality…  

Peace becomes your insurance and security that with Jesus, Everything. Will be. Okay.

The only thing left to remind you of, is to continue doing your part.
What I’m saying here is, make sure you uphold and fulfil your physical role, when and where applicable, e.g. making the job application, studying for an exam, and so on.
Jesus does His part, and we must also maintain ours, through the strength and ability He has given us, because together, it makes the manifestation perfect! (Read James 2:14-26 which teaches us about the need of both faith and works to go hand-in-hand).

Let Jesus take those burdens COMPLETELY, and allow His peace and power to comfort you, and overcome every problem and every situation concerning you, today, and always. 

Cast your Cares, Maintain your Peace, Uphold your Role.

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