Peace in the Storm

Sweet Words of Hope Proverbs ch.25v 11 "A Word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver" I realised a few years ago that I was speaking words over my life that weren't producing good fruit.  I wrote this song as a prayer. Because I knew I needed the Holy Spirit's help to change my thinking and to renew my mind so that the words I was speaking would change.  Because Jesus said that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks (Matthew 12v34) I understood that if I wanted to speak the Words of Life and Blessing I would first need my thinking and believing to be in line and in agreement with God's thoughts and his ways, through his Word. So many times we can find ourselves just speaking mindlessly, not really thinking about what we are saying or choosing our words carefully.  Many times its nothing more than a bad habit.  There are many examples of 'common statements or figures of speech' that people make without thinking about...

The Hem of His Garment I love this account of the woman with the issue of blood who touched the hem of Jesus' Garment knowing that she would be healed in Mark chapter 4 vs 25 - 34 Lets read it together and have a closer look into it :- "And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years, and had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse" We notice here that it doesn't tell us her name, but we can see and recognise that her identity was more to do with her physical state. She was probably known locally as the woman who has the issue of blood, because in that time and under the Jewish law she was called ceremonially unclean, which meant she was not allowed to associate with other people etc, she would have spent her time in isolation.   We also see that she had done everything in the natural to try and get better, but only grew worse.  We can imagine how desperate she was...

What does it mean to Repent? Repent means to Turn or Return.  So when you hear a preacher say that you must Repent - he is meaning "to turn from evil and to turn to God"  It isn't really about acts of sins that we think, like drinking and smoking etc.  But it is more to do with the sinful nature that every person is born with.   "As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one . . . For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; "    Romans 3:10, 23, KJV You see everyone is born with this sinful nature, we all want to do what is right and we try our best, but there is no-one without sin.  Even from a young age, we can see it in our children.  There is a pull to be disobedient and to do things their own way.   There is only One Way to be free and be washed clean and that is through accepting Jesus Christ as the Son of God.  When we accept him, we also accept the plan of Salvation and the great Love...

In the Presence of the Saviour How beautiful it is when we are resting in the presence of the Saviour.  The sad thing is that few that I speak to really understand what this means.  They need healing in their bodies and minds, or are weary in soul and yet when I say something about spending time in the presence of God they don't know what it is never mind how to go there. When I was a very young child I fell in love with the peace of being in the presence of God. I don't have many clear memories of my early childhood, but I do remember clearly being in the prayer meeting with my parents.  I can remember sitting on my father's knee and listening to him praying, I would watch each person and listen to their words as they poured their hearts and worship out to their heavenly Father and I used to think in my young mind - "God you are in this room and you are beautiful".  I didn't understand about the Holy Spirit or I didn't know many scriptures, but I ...

Paid in Full Have you ever went to pay a bill only to find that someone had paid it for you?  It has happened me a few times and it is a lovely surprise.  Or maybe you have went to pay a bill and thought you had enough money but realised the bill was more than you thought - that is not a nice experience.   I custom paint furniture, so get a lot of messages from people asking for a quote to paint a piece of furniture for them.  They want to know who much it is going to cost up front, before they decide whether to get it painted or not.  I am very cautious about giving a quote, because I don't want to underestimate the cost and likewise I don't want to overcharge.  When I first started this work, I did underestimate the work required a few times, and just had to take the loss.  Because I'm working with the un-known - someone will send me a photo of their piece of furniture, but from the photo I can't always know what preparation work it wi...

In the time of war or battle, neither side wants to reveal their plans or show their hand to soon.  In any situation the surprise attack is considered to be the most effective plan of attack. But God is so far above the natural mind and way of thinking of men and the kingdom of darkness.  He actually told us from the beginning what would be.  He laid out his plan from beginning to end. This is the confidence he had and we can have in him.  His timetable is complete, it will not be changed or altered.  He has shown the way, it is not hidden or in special code but it is in his Word and it is made known to us by the Holy Spirit and received through faith and revelation. He foretold about the 400 years the children of Israel would spend in slavery in Egypt.  He brought Moses onto the scene just at the right time even though the enemy knew that a deliver was going to born and tried to kill all the babies - Moses was kept safe.  God's plan still prevai...

The Father's Heart Luke 15:20 "But when he (the prodigal son) was yet a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him." In the parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15, the young son leaves home filled with hopes and dreams for a great new life, but quickly finds nothing but misery and hopelessness.  He returns home, planning to ask to work for his father as a slave, because he didn't think he deserved to be called a son again.  But before he can say a word, his father runs to him, hugs him, welcomes him home, and reinstates his full privileges as a member of the family. You see the whole time that this son had been away doing his own thing, the Father was waiting and watching for him to return.  He never stopped loving him and longed to see him again, and had made up his mind that no matter what state his son would return in, he would welcome him with open arms. At this time of 'lockdown' we can al...