Unforgettable to God

The Bible repeatedly says to "serve the Lord with all your heart". God wants you to serve Him passionately, not dutifully. People rarely excel at tasks they don't enjoy doing or feel passionate about. God wants you to use your natural interests to serve Him and others.


One characteristic of serving God from your heart is effectiveness: whenever you do what God has wired you to to love to do, you get good at it. Passion drives Perfection.
In serving God with all your heart, you are obeying Him. Obedience is better than sacrfice and your obedience willl go down in His books!

To make a mark with God, you also have to please Him. And you can only please Him by faith. Faith is having confidence in God.
When you victoriously exude your anticipation of miracles, God is pleasured and you will be remembered for the pleasure you created.

Don't settle for achieving the "good life", because the good life is not good enough. Ultimately, it doesn't satisfy. You can have a lot to live on and still have nothing to live for. Aim instead for the "better life" -- Serving God in a way that expresses your heart.

Figure out what you love to do- that which God gave you a heart for and then do it for His Glory!


Have a Splendid New year!!...Expect Great things from God.

Romans 12: 6-11 "We have different gifts according to the grace given to us. If a man's gift is prphesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith............Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord"

.."All things are possible with God." - Mark 10:27

Between Egypt and Canaan

The road of life is a very long one. Between where you came from (Egypt) and where you are going to (Canaan), there will be temptations. You will always be in a new environment where there are many choices: to speak that profane language, to lie at work and cheat your boss, to just blend in with the crowd!

The thing is you just gotta stand out! The bible reminds you not to take on the customs of the Canaan you are going to! Their rules should not rule your life....
...rather, look to your amkeer in Heaven..Follow his rules, live by his law...let the word of God be your number one prophet!

Be alert for temptations and traps, do not conform to the world's standards.

The reward is that you will live- live victoriusly!!

Leveticus 18:3 -5 " you must not do as they do in Egypt, where you used to live and you must not do as they do in the land of Canaan where I am bringing you. Do not follow their practices. You must obey my laws and be careful to follow my decrees. I am the Lord your God. Keep my decress and laws, for the man who obeys them will live by them. I am the Lord"

.."All things are possible with God." - Mark 10:27

Dating

Coming from an African Background, I have found that Parents refuse you from going into any relationship at all because obviously they think it will end in sexual morality but what if you really like someone and you want to just have that person thinking of you and you thinking of them?

A lot of my friends have been baffled at this no dating rule because if you don't date someone, how do you get to know them and choose the right lifetime partner?

But also there is the mentality that going out with too many guys cheapens you and makes you the less preferred choice for marriage.

So

What does the bible actually say about dating?
Is there an age range that determines your suitability to date?

What does abstinence involve? (obviously sex before marriage is A NO-NO but then the other little things people do..does that contribute to sin or is it ok?)

People need to know what is right and what is wrong and at the moment people are living in grey zones....

I hope God shed light on this topic for us all.

Do comment and share your own thoughts as to what you think The Christian stance is on this!

God bless.

.."All things are possible with God." - Mark 10:27

Will the Real Christianity please stand up!?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10lue7bhcK0





Stay blessed all!

.."All things are possible with God." - Mark 10:27

Fully armoured for battle

There was a great uproar, in the valley of the Great Depression. One young soldier, covered in metal from the crown of his head to the sole of his feet, stood ready for battle. Today was one of many wars.

The moment of silence that elapsed between the two armies seemed eternal. The war horses, some grey and others black, mimicked the gloom of this unfortunate day.

Lloyd Baxter's heart was racing. The adrenaline flowing rapidly through every blood vessel in his body. He was ready.

That morning was like every other. He expected to go to battle and return home with the spoil; an honour to serve his country. The commander of the opposing army yelled: 'Attack!'
Lloyd and his infantry of soldiers charged into battle.

The clanking of swords to the puffs of men's breath could be heard across the vast land of the valley. Lloyd turned around and with such great force overthrew an oncoming soldier from his horse. He did not anticipate the attacker from his rear. In that split second, He felt a tear in his heart muscle. An arrow had narrowly missed the metal breastplate and landed in the slit in the middle instead.

This was the day...It was not expected...Lloyd Baxter did not anticipate it...he was not prepared for what caused His death that day.


..............................................
My pastor keeps saying that if the devil were to come to us in person and show himself as the devil, we would all not follwo him. We would not be tricked at all.
But the devil is a cunning serpent and we need the FULL armour of God to be able to identify his tricks!

Working downwards from head to toe:

• For Defence

Helmet of Salvation- In a war, you need to protect your head. Your brain stays inside the head and this controls a lot of the things that happen in the body. carry your salvation on your head. remember that you are saved and are a child of God so if the enemy reminds you of your past, show him your helmet! use the authority that Christ has given you through salvation.

Breatsplate of righteousness - this potects your chest. When your chest has a lot of mucus which is sticky, it can easily become infected.this leads to lots of chest problems. With the breatplate of righteousness, you are having a clean start. You are to be holy as Christ is Holy. Going with a clear conscience means that the devil cannot accuse you of anything.

Shield of faith - faith is the assurance of things hoped for; the substance of things not yet seen. When you have faith in God, you will win every battle. trust Him, depend on him for victory and watch Him devour the enemy for your sake. The shield si there to protect yor heart from every arrow of fear the devil may throw your way!

Belt of truth - Belts are worn around the waist to support an item of clothing. When you go in truth, God supports you and the truth will set you free from every trap the enemy has set.

Gospel of peace - your feet have to be quick to spread the gospel around. It is a commandment given in th great commission and doing your assignment will expempt you from being held accountable.See to it that your brother, sister, neighbour or colleague has heard the gospel and/or is saved!

• for offence (to be on the attacking side)

Sword of the spirirt (Word of God) - It's one thing to read the bible and another to memorise what is written within it. The cover of the Bible is not important, it's the words that are written inside that matters! learn a memory verse everyday if possible, those are the bullets you would use to shoot the devil when he shows up.

Peparation is the key! be ready always and stand firm.

May God empower us all to do just that.Amen!



"Put on the full armour of God so that you can fight against the devil's evil tricks" - Ephesians 6:11



The Lord is good all the time!

Thinking G-hopper style

The grasshopper is a small insect which feeds mostly on leaves. It is so small that in comparison to the rest of the world it is insignificant.
The story written in Numbers 13 tells of the 12 men, each from one of the tribes of Israel, that were sent to check out the land of Canaan. Apart from Caleb and Joshua, all the others talked about how huge a task it was to overcome the giants in that city and take over the land. Caleb and Joshua on the other hand thought that they could overcome it.
This story gave birth to the term: 'grasshopper mentality' which means seeing yourself as though you were very insignificant, having a negative self-image and a low self-esteem.

Self image is the mental picture you create about yourself.
Thinking too small or having a grasshopper mentality is a sin. It is saying to God that His power is too small, that he is not able to do all things. We have the mind of the Christ and we were made in His image and likeness therefore we should see ourselves as Christ sees us. He has placed us a little above the Angels and has made us joint heirs to the throne...does that sound like someone who is insignificant?

The world should not see you by your history but by your destiny. The way you think affects who you become. Stinking thinking focuses on the things that can't be done rather than those that can be done~ it focuses on the negative reports rather than on your capabilities~ it causes you to exaggerate the situation and magnify the problem rather than see the bigness of your God.


The grasshopper mentality gives rise to

• short-sighted vision - this occurs when you tend to settle for ordinary when you can be extra-ordinary! You have to see obstacles as opportunities and walls as open doors. Never think that you have to become the mistake you made in the past. God can separate what you did from who you are...and he has forgiven you for what you did, so let it go and move on.
• doubt - this is split into worry, fear and apathy. Worrying about the things you cannot change does not help change it. Fear is an avenue for the devil to torment you when there really is no need for it and apathy is the sin of not expecting anything. Faith is the father of expectation and without faith it is impossible to please God! Don't expect to be at the same place in your relationship with God few years from now, expect more!!

Numbers 13: 31 - But the men who had gone up with him said, "We can't attack those people; they are stronger than we are."


If you can conceive that thought or idea then you can certainly achieve it. You are the image of God so see yourself through God's eyes. Think like the Prince or princess that God designed you to be and not like a Grasshopper!


The Lord is good all the time!

Shalom

It is a word that Jewish people use to greet one each other. Shalom means peace, well-being and wholeness. This is used more commonly to mean peace....

What is peace? is it the gesture made with the fingers or the anti-nuclear symbol?

Is the peace that a white dove now signifies?

Peace is: freedom of the mind from annoyance, distraction, anxiety, an obsession, etc.; tranquillity; serenity. ~ silence; stillness. ~ cessation of or freedom from any strife or dissension.

This peace is the peace you get when the Lord is your shepherd

.....when you lie down in green pastures

.....when you walk by still waters

.....when His goodness restores your soul

.....when the love of the lord overshadows every seed of doubt

....when the enemy reminds you of your past and you remind him of his future

......knowing that when you take a step towards God, he takes one million steps towards you

.....knowing that even when you are going to a place you have never been before, he is with you

.....knowing that if He has promised it, He will never fail to accomplish it.

....knowing that after your tough labour, He can and will give you rest.

Your Heavenly father is called Jehovah-Shalom, that is 'The Lors is my peace'. The assurance is that God lives up to His name.

Jesus is the prince of peace, If you know Him then you peace!

"John 14:27 - Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. "

The Lord is good all the time!

A lineage of grace

It is a wonder how God chooses his people- the people he desires to use and work with to achieve His plans. So far from the study of the Bible all the people used by God have one thing in common: They all Lack PERFECTION!
At the start of their journey with God they are mere commoners but throughout their journey, they strive to reach perfection. The reason God is able to use us despite our backgrounds, our past and our sins is because of this thing called GRACE.


2 Corinthians 12:9 - "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me."


Take a look at the lives of these people and the lessons learnt from them:

Tamar (Genesis 38) -You may have been cheated but that is not the end.
Also if you believe in a loving God, He will turn your mourning into joy!

Rahab (Joshua 2 & 6) - Your past may have been messed up but God can give you a better future If you believe in Him.

Ruth (Ruth)- Be humble..Humility will open doors for you before Kings!
When you give up on your will and stop worrying about tomorrow, God will honour you.
Choose to help those who do not have over those that have.

Bathsheba ( 2 Samuel 11 & 12)- There should be absolutely no reason to commit adultery.
Every sin can be forgiven but cannot escape punishment.

Mary (Matthew 1)- God will honour you if you choose to bear the shame for HIM!

Then there's people like Paul.When He was still called Saul, he persecuted the Christians and there was a lot of blood on his hands.From the moment of his divine appointment with God, He never for once turned back..He allowed himself to be used of God always and He accepted God's forgiveness!.

Grace is abundantly available for you, you just have to take it and accept it.
Use it but don't misuse it!


The Lord is good all the time!

Spiritual Growth

It had been 20 weeks, she could feel those tiny energetic feet kicking around. By 36 weeks, she knew there was definitely life in her; that baby was growing and soon it would outgrow the little accommodation it temporarily occupied and be ready to embrace the bigger world.

Growth is associated with changing phases; from one stage to another. Christians ought to grow too.

There's conception:this is the stage that results from intimacy between two people. There has to be a relationship between you and God.His love for you is clear but the question we need to ask ourselves is, how much do I love HIM?

You would spend time with someone you loved right?..then it should be exactly the same with God- spend time in prayer, meditate on His word, give Him your praise and worship Him!

Then next is forming: this occurs through the experiences you gain.Everything that happens to you, happens for a reason....God Knows exactly what you have you have to go through in order to produce the Character of Christ in you!

In Galatians 4:19, Paul writes " My little children, for whom I labour in birth again until Christ is formed in you"

...Paul was working hard, probably praying 24/7 for these people to ensure that they were Christ-like in the same way God will do whatever it takes to bring about the Character of Christ in you.

The final stage is pushing:When you commit to bringing forth what God has placed within you, you'll have to push against everything everybody ever did to you or said about you!God helps you to bring out that character but its up to you to push! You have to push against satanic attacks in all their form such as bad memories, low self esteem and feelings of worthlessness. The devil may have spent years pushing you aside, pulling you back and putting you down BUT today God is saying "I want to open you up, I want to empower you to give birth to what I've placed within you"

When a baby is born, everything in the family changes. The same is true for you. When you give birth to what God's placed within you, everything will be affected. God's blessings will overflow and touch every area of your existence..

The Lord is good all the time!

Listen to The Voice

Hearing is one of the 5 major senses that we humans possess. We can listen to different sounds and voices. A lot of the time, we hear voices telling us we are not capable, voices that speak the negative. It's the voice of fear AND it doesn't play fair! It pulls the file on our past failures and preys on our deepest insecurities.

But there's another voice we can choose to listen to - God's! This voice speaks the Best things ever: "fear not, for i am with you; be not dismayed for I am your God.I will strengthen you, yes I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand- Isaiah 41:10"

To listen to this voice,we must really fine tune the station of our ears.The thing is all other sounds, noises and voices will still be in the background but attuning your ears to God's voice makes His voice louder than the rest.The reason being that you're so focused on what He is saying that nothing else matters.

To be successful in anything God call you to do, you must be sensitive to the Holy spirit within you and learn to recognise when He speaks to you through The Word.

When the pressure is on and you're tempted to move too quickly, He will say: "you shall not go out with haste..for the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard- Isaiah 52:12"

When you're about to make a wrong turn or bad decision, He will remind you that: "In his heart a man plans his course but the Lord determines his steps - Proverbs 16:9"

When you don't have the means to get the job done, He will whisper: "The Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your soul in drought and strengthen your bones; you will be like a watered garden and like a spring of water whose waters do not fail- Isaiah 58:11"

When you run out of answers and you don't know what to do, He will reassure you: "I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go, I will counsel you and watch over you- Psalm 32:8"

When the load becomes too heavy to carry, you'll hear His voice saying: "Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you, He will never let the righteous fall- Psalm 55:22"

Hearing God's voice may mean you have to sacrifice lesser things and tune out your voices, but you MUST do it. Nothing, absolutely nothing, is more important than learning to recognise God's voice when He speaks to you.

The Lord is good all the time!

Joy of the Lord

Some things make us sad while other things make us happy. However, the happiness we derive from the things of the world never seem to last.

One of the strategies the enemy uses to render a christian ineffective is to attack his/her joy!

When you're gloomy, it is difficult for your faith to work and produce results.Without that joy bubbling in you, the strength- spiritual energy to WIN in the market places of life won't be there.


The Bible says in Isaiah 12:3 it says that" therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation". Your faith prevails in an atmosphere of Joy! And if with joy, you draw water out of the well, it means that you will enjoy the benefits of Salvation.
Salvation is an all-encompassing word that refers to all the benefits that the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ made available to the believer: Divine health, peace, prosperity, success and everything that is consistent with the glory-life.

There is joy that comes from the inner man.This kind of joy transcends physical circumstances; it's permanent and will keep a person strong and alive. That's why the bible says in Proverbs 17:22 " a happy heart is like good medicine but a broken spirit dries up the bones"

The Joy of the Lord is your strength so in the absence of Joy there is weakness! We have to therefore 'Rejoice in the Lord always (Philippians 4:4)'.
Don't let anything steal our joy 'cos that's where your strength lies. It's only in an atmosphere of joy that the Holy Spirit can function and move mightily on your behalf.

Learn to laugh the enemy to scorn in the face of staggering oppositions!

".......the joy of the LORD is your strength- Nehemiah 8:10"

The Lord is good all the time!

Dishonouring God

God has said that he will never share his glory with anybody.In addition, He said that man cannot have two masters, choose God or choose watever else (but obviously it would be a very good choice if you choose God!).

In 1Samuel 4, The Israelites went into battle with the Philistines. At the beginning, 4000 soldiers died.They Isrealites realised that they needed God so they brought the ark to the 'Hebrew camp'. However, the result was a shock: 30,000 more Israelite soldiers went down!!

Among the deceased were Eli's sons: Hophni and Phinehas.

Further in the story, we see that Eli died and Phinehas's wife also died. These two last deaths were strange because they occured when these individuals heard that the Lord's ark had been taken away.

There are important lessons here:

1. Tracking back to 1Samuel 2, we see that Hophni and Phinehas disrespected the offerings brought to God and God decided to take action. He said he would cut off the priesthood from Eli's family..(that explains their death. It also explains why Eli was not shocked at the news 'cos he knew what was coming, it was only a matter of time before it happend).Honour God with you words, actions and thoughts!

2. The total number of people that lost their lives was 34,004.This was all because of just 2 people! It tells us that In the body of Christ we are all one.The bible says that when a part of the body suffers, the whole body suffers. So we need to pray for each other.When you don't see someone in church for an 'eternity', pray for them 'cos if they are sinning, it might affect you!

3. The Isrealites knew they needed God to win.(they didn't in this case because God wanted his word concerning Hophnin and Phinehas to be fulfilled.).When you are in a tight corner and there's no way out, don't go asking people for solutions because "the arm of flesh will fail you" but rather go on your knees and seek God. He is "your present help in time of trouble"

4. In the old Testament days, It was certain that once you dishonour God you would die! But today, we live in a time of grace. We have a choice because Jesus dies for us. So if you choose life, you WILL have life and have it Abundantly!

The Lord is good all the time!

Appreciation

Eleanor went to bed at 11.00pm forgetting to turn the cooker off.The fire burned through out the night but the house didn't go ablaze.She woke up in the morning in a hurry upset that she didn't have time to eat..(i mean really? she couldn't even thank God for the miracle, for the protection from death, for the safe and sound sleep?)

Mike walked through the dark alleys of his neighbourhood on his way home.When he got home, he was angry at how much work he had to do and how there wasn't enough time to do this and that..(but he forgot that in the nearby alley, John got stabbed 7 times in the chest. A tab that led to the internal bleeding of his heart and ended in death)

Mary was always busy with her kids. She never had time to pray or thank God for even giving them to her.( Meanwhile her friend Josephine, was constantly complaining about her son doing drugs and smoking.she could never sleep at night because she never knew where her daughter was)

............................................................................................

We are who we are because the I AM made us so. We were made to give glory to God.All our worries were already taken on the cross by Jesus. So when we come to him, we should praise him and know that are burdens are on the shoulders of Jesus.

Be free in His presence! praise Him like you know. Bow before him, raise your hands, raise your voice in songs (no matter how bad you think you sound.lol)

It's the attitude that counts.When your heart is geared towards worshipping Him and praising Him, then you show your appreciation!

"you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body"- 1 Corinthians 6:20

The Lord is good all the time!

Happy easter

Hey everyone! hope you are having a wonderful Easter break.
I had a post for today but I've posted it on another blog and to avoid confusion, i would be grateful if you can view it here: http://www.poemspeaks.blogspot.com/

Celebrate HIS resurrection, remembering the unconditional love and the live that resulted from his death!

Love to all,
The poet's voice~~~





The Lord is good all the time!

The Great Exchange

I exchange my weakness for his strength.
I exchange my weakness for his power.
I exchange my darkness for his light; my problems for his solution. I exchange my borders for his freedom.
I exchange my frustrations fro his peace.
I excahnge my turmoil for his calm; my hopes for his promises.
I exchange my afflictions for his knowledge; my doubt for his assurance.
I exchange my nothingness for his awesomeness.
I exchange the temporal for the eternal
I exchange the impossible for the possible!

.."who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed.- 1Peter2:24"


The Lord is good all the time!

Protection - My bodyguard= God

‘He will order his angels to protect you. And they will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.’- Matthew 4:6

Light the darkness

The excitement, the adrenalin pumping.....the concert was getting better and better but suddenly, the lights go out.

It's pitch black and there seems no way out of this enclosed room.

The singer gives a weird order: everyone turn on you phones, let it light up this place!

One by one, lights came on and the darkness was lifted.

......................................................................................................................................

We need light in every area of our life.

I pray that God lifts the darkness of kidnap, of death, of sickness, of divorce and every evil thing that currently exists on our land!

May his love light our darkness.Amen.

The Lord is good all the time!

Crossing over

Crossing over is a song by Damita Haddon which i listened to recently and it ministered to me.Here is a snippet of the lyrics:

I never would have thought in a million years
Today would be the day that I would face my fears
I be looking down the corridors of a dark hall
Wondering how I lost it all
Done my back up against the wall

I can feel the air and it’s getting thin
And my eyes are getting dim
Find myself struggling to save my life
It’s too late ‘cause I see the light
I don’t have the strength anymore to fight

Even though I resurrect up on my feet
Everyday I’m dying so willingly
The more I learn to give up my selfish ways
Gotta get back to you the great
Serve you for the rest of my days

“Crossing Over” tells of a life in turmoil that has reached a breaking point and has no other choice but to surrender to God. Sometimes, we just struggle and struggle and keep struggling with life until we can fight no more. But why should it be that way when we can let go and let GOD!

We gotta get Back to God- the Great one, The Almighty, bearing in mind that to HIM are struggles are tiny and appear so insignificant before HIM.
Why be on the side battling with life, when you can be on the side where you sit and watch Him battle for you?

My message to you today is this: Cross over to the side of Jehovah!


"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.-Matthew 11.28"



The Lord is good all the time!

Light

Far out in the Desert, high on a mountain peak...Alone in the desolate countryside.

Only in places like these can we sense the impct of a single star.

The brightest star aside our Sun is Sirius which is estimated to be 8.6 light-years from earth.

Amid the clutter of artificial hlow, Sirius is only dimly visible.Yet even though it is billions of miles away, it can penetrate darkness when seen against a purely black sky.

Then, add other stars. One by one, the impact accumulates and the light in the sky beocmes brighter. We are able to see clearly.

Light has an amazing impact. Light changes everything- our emotions, attitudes, the atmosphere, our perceptions andhow we view the world and events. When we are surrounded by light, we see more clearly and make better decisions.

But the absence of light- darkness- has the opposite effect. Darkness hided things. It blinds us!

It creates the illusion that our actions are invisible and that no one is watching. In darkness, we're more susceptible to temptation and it's harder to find our way.

Without Christ, we are all in spiritual darkness. but God has called His people out of darkness and into His marvelous light..We are called to shine that light and be a blessing for others.

Remember that you are the light of the world. People around you are living in darkness but you have what you need.

Let your light shine.

Join other believers to fulfill the Great Commission and beam light even more brightly to impact lives for Christ!

The Lord is good all the time!

Delayed blessings are dangerous

I Samuel 1 tells us about the story of Elkanah and his wives Peninnah and Hannah.

Penninah had children and Hannah didn't however Elkanah loved Hannah more.
Penninah teased Hannah, never allowing an opportunity to hurt hannah slip by.

...BUT that drove Hannah to pray to the Lord!

The things I learnt from this are:

1. God Blessd hannah with only one Child but that one child became famous...Did u ever hear of penninah's children? but you heard of prophet Samuel right?


2. God blesses you in his own time, to bring glory to His name


3. God shows what He can do - He's all powerful, Almighty!


4. Delayed blessings bring you back to God; you acknowledge that you wouldn't have done it without him.


5. You learn to place great value on your blessing


6. You build your faith and patience


7. when you wait for so long and still remain in Him, you show your trust and prove your love for Him.
   

The success of the wicked is short-lived. Sometimes, it may be hard to believe this but he who laughs last, laughs best.Delayed blessings are dangerous to those who are teasing and mocking you right now, to those who think you are believing in God who is powerless, to those who think you are crazy for having faith for this long.

Delayed blessings to you, means a double blessing!!

The Lord is good all the time!

Who is this Man?

At 12yrs old, He was teaching The Word to the congregation with the wisdom of His elders.

-he was a man who could calm every storm, no matter how violent.
-he could heal any disease, no matter how deadly.
-and he could solve any problem, no matter how complex.

This man is Jesus, our Lord!

He is with us as we go through our personal crises, emotional roller coasters or times of political turmoil and financial turbulence. He is with us and He never worries. He remained calm even when the fierce storm shook seasoned fishermen.
Jesus can simply speak a word and bring about complete restoration, healing and Peace. He can provide for our needs, no matter how things may be shaking all around us.

"They were terrified and asked each other, "Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!- Mark 4:41"
............................................................................................
* I remembered a song that was sang in church when i was younger. "It went: what manner of man is Jesus ?, hallelujah. He made the blind to see, hallelujah".

I started to think of the many things Jesus did in his time. I'm sure you will agree that all those things were pretty unusual. When God works, he works in mysterious ways to bring glory to his name*


The Lord is good all the time!

Purpose of life

* I received this email from a firend and i thought I'll share it because it touched me and made a lot of sense.I sincerely apologise for the length though. happy reading!*


Rick Warren is the person President elect Barak Obama has chosen to give the prayer at the inaugural ceremony on Jan 20th. No matter what faith you are, this is worth reading.
You will enjoy the new insights that Rick Warren has, with his wife now having cancer and him having 'wealth' from the book sales.

This is an absolutely incredible short interview with Rick Warren 'Purpose Driven Life ' author and pastor of Saddleback Church in California.
In the interview by Paul Bradshaw with Rick Warren, Rick said:People ask me, what is the purpose of life? And I respond: In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity. We were not made to last forever, and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven.
One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body but not the end of me.I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of years in eternity. This is the warm-up act - the dress rehearsal. God wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity.
We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn't going to make sense.Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you're just coming out of one, or you're getting ready to go into another one. The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort. God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy. We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that's not the goal of life. The goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness.

This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the toughest, with my wife, Kay, getting cancer. I used to think that life was hills and valleys - you go through a dark time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don't believe that anymore. Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it's kind of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life.
No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on. And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something good you can thank God for. You can focus on your purposes , or you can focus on your problems. If you focus on your problems, you're going into self-centeredness,'which is my problem, my issues, my pain.' But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others.
We discovered quickly that in spite of the prayers of hundreds of thousands of people, God was not going to heal Kay or make it easy for her.It has been very difficult for her, and yet God has strengthened her character, given her a ministry of helping other people, given her a testimony, drawn her closer to Him and to people.You have to learn to deal with both the good and the bad of life.

Actually, sometimes learning to deal with the good is harder. For instance, this past year, all of a sudden, When the book sold 15 million copies, it made me instantly very wealthy. It also brought a lot of notoriety that I had never had to deal with before. I don't think God gives you money or notoriety for your own ego or for you to live a life of ease. So I began to ask God what He wanted me to do with this money, notoriety and influence. He gave me two different passages that helped me decide what to do, II Corinthians 9 and Psalm 72.
First, in spite of all the money coming in, we would not change our lifestyle one bit. We made no major purchases.
Second, about midway through last year, I stopped taking a salary from the church.
Third, we set up foundations to fund an initiative we call The Peace Plan to plant churches, equip leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, and educate the next generation.
Fourth, I added up all that the church had paid me in the 24 years since I started the church, and I gave it all back. It was liberating to be able to serve God for free.

We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for possessions? Popularity? Am I going to be driven by pressures? Guilt? Bitterness? Materialism? Or am I going to be driven by God's purposes (for my life)?
When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say, God, if I don't get anything else done today, I want to know you more and love You better. God didn't put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do list. He's more interested in what I am than what I do. That’s why we're called hum an beings, not human doings.

Happy moments, PRAISE GOD.
Difficult moments, SEEK GOD.
Quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD.
Painful moments, TRUST GOD.
Every moment, THANK GOD.



The Lord is good all the time!

In His arms

It is night, dark outside.
In all their grandeur, the stars shine
twinkling brilliantly against the panoramic sky.
Nature follows me up and I must lie
down to sleep.
My energy dips;
The physical body is weak.

The soft pillow cushions my head.
The abstract world embraces my dream.
Drifting away to a world of orange and red
In his arms, I sleep…I sleep.

I see Angels gather, singing His praises
and the Host of heaven bowing in reverence.
Then Jesus looks down at His loved one,
ensuring my full protection.

Whilst in the real world,
my heart repletes with peace
and joy; joy like I’ve never known
as I sleep in His arms.

"He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside still waters, he restores my soul - Psalm 23:1-3"

* There are some days I'm absolutely stressed and things are not going so well but the only thing I can cling onto is God's peace.I wrote this to thank him for the provision of his peace.I don't know what i would do without it.


The Lord is good all the time!

Thought attack!

Nineteen year-old Liu Shih-Kun was an esteemed concert pianist in China until the cultural revolution banned all things of Western influnece. refusing to renounce his beloved music, Liu was deemed an enemy of the people, beaten and imprisoned.


There he languished in a tiny cell with no books, no paper and worst of all; no piano! Six years later, for propaganda reasons, he was asked to play in Beijing with the Philadelphia Orchestra. After years without an instrument to practice on, he performed brilliantly. Eighteen months later when he was finally released, he again played flawlessly. That Liu survived is remarkable, that his hands continued to move as if they'd never stopped playing is amazing.


His secret?.. stripped of everything musical, for seven and a half years, Liu disciplined himself to shut out negative thoughts and practice hour after hour on an imaginary piano.


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We often don't realise the extent to which our thinking contributes to our mental aguish. The earlier you stop the thought attacks, the easier it is to pull yourself together and get back on track. While the concept is simple, it's not easy to implement.


You can freeze out harmful thinking by capturing every thought and making it obedient to Christ. Your thoughts have power, to win over them you must submit to Christ and control what you allow your mind to dewll on.

Its the First day of a new month in the new year.
Some of us might have had a great start but for others, that may not have been the case.
It's not to late to start over. It's still early on in the new year, so change your mentality.
2009 is still the year you declared it to be even if things are not going so well right now.

Don't let your thoughts attack you.
Let Christ control your thoughts, you and your circumstances!


" ......And we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ- 2 Corinthians 10:5"


The Lord is good all the time!

While you wait

There's a lot of waiting to do in this world we live in.

..At the banks, we have to wait,
..On the phone to your internet service provider you have to wait,
And when that stomach of your is growling like, guess what? you still have to wait for the food to cook.

Waiting is part of God's process. Surprisingly, waiting does not always have to be a bad thing.
God prepares you for the road ahead during your time of waiting.
You might need to develop patience for the new job he's giving you so you're still living with that irritating flat mate while waiting for a new appartment.(but honestly i would hate to be in that position.In case anyone reading this post is, well may God's grace be with you oooo)

While you wait, draw closer to God
While you wait, seek his face
While you wait, read the word
While you wait, renew your strength
While you wait, DON'T wait IN VAIN!


"But those who wait on the Lord, shall renew their strength- Isaiah 40:31"


The Lord is good all the time!

Christianity: It's about others not you.

Taylor was walking out one night, strolling in the neighbourhood and enjoying the evening breeze when suddenly he heard a gunshot. His heart started racing, beads of sweat formed around his forehead and then he heard footsteps...closer, louder, faster.

The gang was closing in on him faster than he could run. Out of the dark, a fist came down heavy on his right cheek, then another on his stomach and finally one to his face. The last thing Taylor remember was darkness and then he fell to the ground.

The Vicar of New testament church woke up the next morning on his way to the church to teach that sermon on Being a Christian. On His way, he Left his cross pendant.

'I put it here' he thought to himself while searching under his pillow.It was as his was about to go out, he saw the little cross shining on the kitchen table. He was 20 minutes late and he hurried down the street. Few blocks away there appeared to be a log in the way. He moved closer to the object out of curiosity and soon discovered it was a body. He tapped the person and shook him a bit. He saw the person's chest move up and down so he could tell the person was still alive.
'I better be on my way before the person awakes and asks me for help' and with that he took off to church.

Mr Danladi lived two houses away form Taylor.The night before he had visited him but left when no one answered the door.On his way to work, he saw the body as he stood on his front step and ran towards it.

He saw the face and fear and compassion overtook him

"Taylor! Taylor, look at me" he screamed "open your eyes.God, help your child. They say you are merciful". He tried to bring Taylor to consciousness and then he called the police and ambulance.

In the waiting room, Mr Danladi was pacing around, worrying. He had rang the secretary earlier to inform her he would not be coming in to work that day.
The doctor came to see Him and informed him that Taylor would have died if he had stayed longer out on the streets. Taylor had sustained injuries to some vital organs including his occipital lobe and his vision was affected slightly.

...............................................................................................

This story is my attempt at retelling the story of the Good Samaritan as it would apply in our world today.Mr Danladi was not even a Christian yet he helped saved Taylor's life. The vicar who knows what it means to be a christian didn't want to carry the burden of another person.

Jesus went about doing good.If he had somewhere to go and people stopped him for healing, He would heal them and then carry on his journey.
This is the example we should follow.To serve God, we should serve others.

Do not be wary of doing good because in time you'll see the rewards.

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.- James 1:27"

The Lord is good all the time!

Alive or living abundantly?

Walking dead bodies.That's what a lot of people are.

Physically and biologically, they are breathing and undergoing metabolic processes but they are empty inside. An ever insatiable void runs through them; every vein and artery, every arteriole and tubule...emptiness abounds...

Man was once one with God, after all we were made in HIS image and likeness.

Man journeyed life with God and God was his constant best friend. There were no secrets between them.However, man placed sin above God. sin became man's friend and God was pushed to the bench; to the sidelines. HE no longer mattered!

Life came to a stop...sin encouraged man to please his flesh.The spirit of man, the only part that was in tune with God gradually died and the connection to heaven was lost.

You see at this point, man was still alive but spiritually dead.

God tried to reach Man but sin was in the way like a basketball player defending his oponent from making a clear shot. Sin was in control of man, it had a clear and loud voice which drowned out that still small voice of God every time HE called. Man was lost forever.

Where there's a will, there's a way.God's so loving and merciful that HE decided to send HIS only son to save us from sin that we might live abundantly!

Now at this point of redemption, man was alive and living abundantly. He had life to the full.

Why be just alive when you can be alive and living ?!

.....The choice is yours.....

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.- John 10:10"

The Lord is good all the time!

Have faith

Putting it quite simplistically,


...Faith is jumping off a cliff, knowing that God will catch you or give you wings to fly but either way He'll stop you from reaching the ground below unaided!....

*Look at the picture closely, do you see the hand of God?



He lives in you
He lives in me
He watches over
Everything we see
.....Have Faith! - Diana Ross



I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."- Matthew 17:20





The Lord is good all the time!

'There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.'

'There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.'

This is a slogan which is part of an atheist campaign which is hoping to take off in London and spread to other cities in the UK.The atheist posters are the idea of the British Humanist Association (BHA) and have been supported by prominent atheist Professor Richard Dawkins.

The creator of the advert, Ariane Sherine, says it is a counter campaign to one run on buses in June 2008 which had Bible quotes on them such as ‘Jesus died for your sins’ and a URL for a web site which included statements saying that ‘All non Christians would burn in hell for eternity in a lake of fire’.
So she decided to design an advert with a positive message which said the opposite.

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The advert is surely a wake up call to all believers. If this is not a sign of the end-times, I don't know what is. The devil has made it clear that we are in a war and he will do everyhting in his power to frustrate us Christians. However, greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world! we have overcome by the blood of the lamb and the word our testimony.

We will not be shaken...There IS a GOD!

‘There IS a God!’, for it is this realisation which frees us from worry and leads to real joy."
Christians get up and fight, raise your voices in prayer against the plans of the enemy!

There is a God!!

The Lord is good all the time!

what are you doing for God?

The Book of Ecclesiastes goes :there is a time for everything
everything has its special season
it's unfortunate that we christian soldiers
have 24 hours just like the unbelievers
yet we stay down and watch the time go by
nothing has been done; from the break of dawn till night.
the harvest is plenty yet the labourers are few
but are they really few or just lazy?
we listen to what she or he or they say
but What does God say?
are you listening or busy making excuses?
we have faith coupled with boldness
from the Holy Spirit.
we have been given authority over everything on earth
yet the cares of this life has choked The Word out of our life
and we neglect the eternal kingdom
where we truly belong,
where our names are written in the book of life.
I ask YOU: what are you doing for God?

........................................................................................
last month, I was reading the book of Revelations and I cried when i finished.
There are so many souls out there that are dying spiritually...they are lost, and we Christians have to find them and share the gift of salvation with them.The bible says that He who wins souls is wise.

It Got me thinking about what I can do.Not everyone has to be an evangelist or a pastor but we can all contribute in our own little way.
You can start by praying for your friends or people you know who are not Christians. Pray that they give their lives to Christ.
You can share your testimony with someone..your miracle might just be the evidence that they have been looking for that Jesus is alive!

In my church, we've been praying for revival, in the UK especially and God is doing wonders.
No one is too small, the little you know is enough for God to use to touch someone's life.

Whatever it is, just do something for God!
God bless you.

The Lord is good all the time!

I was there and I AM still there

As you move further into the new year, be strong and hold on.
Walk with Jesus and not ahead of him.
Remember that when you cried, HE was there
when you were sad, He made you happy.
He was there to see you through it all
He was there when your friends walked out on you
and He IS there when You don't know what to do
He was there.
It was Him. It was me. It was Jesus.

He is asking you to walk with him this year and seek his face!

Matthew 28: 20 "....And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."



The Lord is good all the time!