Doing right

You are full of the righteousness of god and he would never expect to go out into the world and do right without the necessary equipment.

Romans 6:1 - "What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?" Sin was a problem in life but grace was and always will be bigger than sin. When we receive Christ as our saviour we get a brand new nature, we become a new person on the inside that makes us alive to him. But we still have the devil pressing down on us, tempting us, offering us opportunities to be sinful. We need to learn to appreciate and accept how victories happen. we need to accept and enjoy the journey. The apostle Paul said "I have learnt to be content, to walk in love and give in to the temptation to do good". How amazing that must be to walk in love!

Galatians 2:20 Paul says " I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Paul was converted twenty years before he made that declaration. We don't need to wait that long, give ourselves up today. Let God give, help and smile down on you.

Don't ask God to do things for us that we could do for ourselves but just don't want to make the sacrifice. God shows us a need and he wants us to fulfil it so that we get the joy, peace and satisfaction. His job is to merely lead the way, remember that. God is not your servant. You are his!

Romans 6:2 - "By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?" In your heart you no longer want to sin but your flesh may want still want to. But the real, new, born again you does not want to sin, that is why you cannot do it comfortably and without being racked with guilt, unless of course you have a very hard heart and have a poor attitude to Holy Spirit.

Romans 6:4(Message) - "That's what baptism into the life of Jesus means. When we are lowered into the water, it is like the burial of Jesus; when we are raised up out of the water, it is like the resurrection of Jesus. Each of us is raised into a light-filled world by our Father so that we can see where we're going in our new grace-sovereign country". A water baptism symbolises the burial to old life and a resurrection to a new life thus making a declaration to enemy spirits that we are a whole new person who is a lot stronger and will habitually live in newness of life.

Romans 6:5-6 "For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin" - Your body/flesh is the instrument of your sin. If you don't understand the sort of creature that God has made you into you will never live up to his potential. You, yes you are amazing, you have a really good heart, God has given you his heart and put his spirit in you. He took your sin and gave you his righteousness. God wouldn't have given you all these gifts if he didn't want you to be so. We all have what it takes within us. Let it out! Say to yourself "I am a new creature in Christ, my sins are forgiven, I am learning, growing, being righteous and I am loved" Keep your mind on who you are in Christ constantly.

Romans 6:10-11 "The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus." Jesus died and took all of our sins with him. You do not need to sin. You should not sin. Instead, live a life free of sin and full of righteousness just as Jesus wished you to. You need to realise who you are in Christ and get the devil out of the equation for good.

Romans 7:15-16 "I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. ¹⁶ And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good". Paul knew he was a born again man but he still felt he needed the covenant law to keep him on the straight n narrow.

Romans 7:17 " As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me." Your old nature may continue alongside your new nature for a while. You must understand the difference between body, mind and spirit. God is in your spirit and the devil works at you from the outside. Who will you yield to? We will become a slave to whoever or whatever we choose.

Put your trust in God and know that he will never ask you to do anything you cannot do. At times you may doubt your ability, but God hasn't.

whatever we give in to we become a slave to it whether that be a good or bad thing.

find it hard to show love to someone who they think doesn't deserve it for a reason, what to do? Romans 2:1 - God's righteous judgement - " You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things." The same things that you judge other people for you will actually be doing yourself. Even if you are on the receiving end of someone's bad temper today then we may be able to turn the situation around. Let God show us how to love and to realise that people are not perfect (Hebrews 4). Jesus understands us and accepts our flaws. We can learn to not to react negatively to bad words and attitudes from others but react instead with the word of God.

You can never know on first glance what someone else is going through to cause their poor behaviour, it could be bad health, abuse or many other things. If we choose to react in love then God will be pleased.

 

How are you going to react next time someone treats you badly???

Escape from prison

God loves you. God has a plan for your life. He is inside you. He is with you always. He loves you. He cares about you. He catches every tear drop that falls from your eyes. He wipes your brow. He tenderly caresses you. So how can we learn to love ourselves and this life that we have been gifted with in the same way that God loves us?

We have to understand that there is a process going on in our lives and that God is leading that. Life will not always be a bunch of roses, we all will have our ups and downs but those down times are the times when we must particularly place our faith in God and let him lead us.

The Bible says that God sees the end from the beginning. God sees where you are going to be if you stay faithful to him and he will do what he can to keep you on that path but you also have to do your part, which may not always make you feel good but it is necessary if you want to move on.

Some of you don't have a good life, or don't perceive that you have a good life. You may have been abused at a time when you needed tenderness and love. You may have been robbed of all your worldly goods when you vitally needed a certain possession. Your current life may not be ideal either, sometimes the past overflows into the present and sometimes the present is full of present day problems. But, whether you are at a stage to believe this or not, God has been with you every step of the way and he sent his son Jesus to help you overcome your problems and heal. Everyone that Jesus healed, lived and then eventually died a natural death but the actual healing opened up his ministry to them and changed their lives in other ways too.

You do not have to feel bad about yourself just because someone else has been bad to you. If someone has abused you it is not a requirement that you abuse yourself also and I would urge you to please turn to God to help you realise this. It is a fundamental part of moving on with your life.

Isaiah 61 "He has sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners" - Jesus set many captives free, released them from their chains and opened prison doors for them, lots of different sorts of prison doors, mental and emotional prison doors. Emotions that the prisoners had were such as hatred, bitterness and resentment. God understands you. He loves you, because you are his child. God has offered you his Kingdom in exchange for your prison. Take it! It will be the best decision you ever make. Peace, righteousness and joy can be with you always if you can accept Jesus into your heart. Don't be a prisoner. You do not need to be. Make the move and let Jesus come and live inside of you and make you want he wants you to be. This one decision will be the most awesome decision you make and your life will never be the same again.

    

Will you allow yourself to be released from your prison?

 

The courage to change

We've all got the courage within ourselves to do what it takes to change. What you need to do is renew your mind and keep a good attitude about it. It won't be an easy or quick process but it is one that everyone can do if they want it badly enough.

Sometimes God lets us know that a new step is coming but we are not told what it is and this can make us scared. However just because you feel fear does not mean that you are a coward, it a sign that you are brave enough to move onto another level of change, whatever that might be. Feel the fear, move beyond it and do what you are meant to do. Fear will try and keep you from having victory but God is greater and is with you every step of the way.

Joshua 1:3 " I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses." - God tells Jesus that he is going to feel fear but not to run. God is not going to give you a big blue print for your life. That would make life on this earth too easy! We often need to make a leap of faith. God won't reveal the next move until we let go of what we are holding onto which is usually through fear.

The devil gives us fear, he makes it very hard for us to do the things we need in order to move on. We need to dig way down deep to get past that, but we can do it if we have faith in God. Nothing changes in your life unless you do something about the place you are at. It always takes change to make progress. YOU have to make the first move whether that's physical or mental.

Joshua 1:5 " No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you." - With God it doesn't matter what your failings are and what you are not as God will make up for that as long as you place your trust in him.

Joshua 1:8 "  Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful." - The one thing you must do whilst trying make progress is meditate on the Word and act on the Word. Progress will not happen if you do not make the Word the centre of your life.

Joshua 1:9 "
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." - Amen!

The key to peace is to accept what you can and cannot change, only God can change some things. If you do what you can do, God will do what you cannot do. If you do what you can do then let God deal with what you can't do and still enjoy where you are at on the way to where you are going. Living by the Serenity Prayer is particularly important. You will not enjoy your changing life if you do not live by it. You can't waste the energy getting upset about something you cannot change. Just sit and let it sink in that it is what it is and that you will deal with it all one day at a time. God gives us the grace to do whatever we need to do we keep a good attitude about our change.

With regard to childhood abuse and other past trauma, we can't do anything about the actual events, that time has gone and at that time we were powerless to stop it. But you are going to survive it and thrive from it and the Serenity Prayer plays a huge part in that. One day you will move away from the past and escape it all entirely but maybe you are not quite ready to fully commit but the day will come. It will. It truly will.

Ability, efficiency, might and power all come from the Holy Spirit. Understand that you have what it takes to do whatever you need to in life as the Holy Spirit resides inside of you. Stop thinking that you can't as if will turn into a self-fulfilling prophecy and you will never move on

We live in a "right now" culture. We want everything right now. We are not willing to wait. A prime example being the financial culture of getting a new household item or car and spending the next five years making monthly payments at an extortionate APR in order to pay it off. We want, want, want but are seldom happy whilst waiting, we get frustrated and grumpy. More people probably feel frustration rather than peace. You cannot change the future right now but you can change how you feel in this moment.

Philippians 2:12 " Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling" - Work out your own salvation, resist temptation and do everything without grumbling.

Philippians 2:13 " for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfil his good purpose." - The desire to change that is inside you was put there by God and he is the one that gave you the courage to change and he is the one to help keep you happy on the journey of change. God wants you to be happy on the way to where you are going. He doesn't want you to be unhappy in the process.

"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; the courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference."

 

 

 

 

 

Getting your day started right - 2

So, carrying on from yesterday. Do you thank God daily even for the little things in your life? We have so much to be thankful for and we must say so daily as our pleasure angers the devil.

Psalm 25:1 - " In you, Lord my God, I put my trust." - Here I am lord, I am yours, use me. We spend too much time telling God what we want, when in fact we ought to listen more to what God wants us to do! Put doing God's work in high importance in your life. Of course we all need to have employment, that's a priority but before, during and after that please strive to put God's work first.

Alter your routine to fit it in. If you do not spend frequent quality time with God you will repeatedly have days that don't go so well. How about spending your lunch hour with God instead of with colleagues? Yes you will miss out on the gossip but should that really be of high importance in your life anyway? A lot of what you do in God now determines what will happen for you spiritually in the future.

Luke 22:39 - " Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him." "As usual" it says, that means it was Jesus' habit. It can be hard at first to get into a new routine or adopt a new habit but give your all and will become easier. Pray ahead of time rather than at a time of temptation so that you will not get into it. Pray that you do not get into temptation. If you do this then you will have the strength not to submit. The power of the Holy Spirit lives in us and with that and prayer we can stand up against our weaknesses such as poor habits, lack of devotional routine.

John 8:1-6 - (no quote) Have you ever said something then wished that you hadn't? In the law of Moses at that time an adulterous woman was due to be stoned to death. Jesus was asked his opinion as a teacher but he, the one teaching love and mercy was put in a quandary but one he quickly resolved and in John 8:7 Jesus said "Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her." Here he managed to speak within the law but maintain his own teachings.

If we want to be an inspirational Christian to others we need to live the right life ourselves as we cannot be a good example.

Psalm 118:24 this is the day that the Lord has made. Don't delay your daily chores, get up, get them done. Whatever time you start your day you need to start it with God. Get yourself into that mindset that you are not going to get upset if everything doesn't go your way (Ephesians 6:11-18). Rise early, seek God. Jesus is the true bread of life and we need recognise that.

Isaiah 40:31 " but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."
- This is answer to your life. Seize it with all your might. If getting up early wasn't important it wouldn't say it all over the bible First thing on morning take time to be with yourself only and then with God and start each day thinking to please God today. Colossians 1:3 and Galatians 10 teach us the importance of setting our mind to do something nice for someone each day, a verbal compliment, an errand, pleasing email and so on. The more you compliment others the better you yourself will feel.

Set your mind to believe that you are going to enjoy life in peace and will not live in bondage. You put up with too much. Stop doing so and get in agreement with God and allow him in.

Think every morning who you can be a blessing to that day and do so daily.

Every day confess the word out loud and prophesy your future, call things how they will be, not as they are at the moment letting the devil hear.

Psalm 103:20 " Praise the Lord, you his angels, you mighty ones who do his bidding, who obey his word." Start your days right, angels harken when they hear your voice talking with God. Say to yourself, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. When you give God the honour of giving him your time he will show up in your life.

Psalm 5:3 " In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly."

 

Does God hear you on a morning???

 

 

Getting your day started right - 1

Please don't ever waste a day. If a day appears to be a bad day do your utmost to turn it around. Some people are very fruitful with their time and others waste their time day in day out. Once time ticks by we never get it back. Time machines do not exist! We need to strive to live every day as if it was our last one and live it to the fullest.

However for many of you, you keep hitting the snooze button, you can't find the car keys, you shout at the kids. You finally set off to work and you have to turn back as you left your cell phone at home somewhere. Not exactly a great start to the day is it? And the devil loves this. If you honest you know the devil will fight you on your time with God. Your personal time with God is more important than being in any church for it is in your own personal study that you become victorious, going to church just strengthens that. listening to a speaker once a week on a Sunday just isn't enough. No bible teaching in church will fall into place until we start spending time with God every day on our own. We need to establish a good daily routine to improve ourselves spiritually, fit in time for God. Mornings are good times, probably the best times before the children awake and the house is quiet. If all you offer is empty space in your day then the devil will gladly fill it.

Psalm 27:4 - "One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple" - You need God a lot more than you need a speaker, a leader, a friend. It doesn't so much matter what you do in time with God but the fact you give the time does a lot of good.

Every day is a fresh start. Start each day with thanksgiving. Sometimes things feel so much better on a morning than on an evening.

Psalm 5:3 " In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly."- give God the first portion of your day when possible.

Lamentations 3:19 - " I remember my affliction and my wandering,  the bitterness and the gall"- First thing to do on a morning is to repent and lament for the failures of the day before and start each day afresh.

Psalm 100:4 - "Enter his gates with thanksgiving his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name" - Be thankful in your life and say so, not just to God but to people in your life, don't just criticise them instead tell them what pleases you and what you are grateful for. Open yourself up to receive God's mercy, don't stay angry at yourself, ask for forgiveness and receive mercy.

Ephesians 4:22-24 - "put off your old self.. and put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness" - The decisions you make early in the morning are like getting dressed spiritually. Do you spend as much time getting dressed spiritually as you do physically?

Colossians 3:12 -"clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience" The decisions that we make about how we are going to walk that day are how we get dressed in the spirit and this is far more important that the choice of suit we wear to the office.

Revelation 16:15 - " Look, I come like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake and remains clothed, so as not to go naked and be shamefully exposed."- Guard your clothes and your spiritual nakedness which is when the devil will strike.

Psalm 118:24 " The Lord has done it this very day; let us rejoice today and be glad." - I am blessed.

Ephesians 6:11-18 -(selection)" Put on your full armour of God, your breastplate of righteousness, your belt of truth, shield of faith, your feet fitted with the readiness from the gospel of peace and your helmet of salvation". Receive the mercy of God and say to yourself that you are going to be bold in the Lord today and act as the person you truly are in Christ. You can do all things through Christ who strengthens you from the inside.

Psalm 25:1 "  In you, Lord my God, I put my trust" - we need to dedicate and commit ourselves to the Lord each day.

 

What are you thankful for? Do you thank God for those things?

Take the ride of your life

Sow seeds in someone else's life in order to help yourself and do so in a mindful way. This will help keep your mind off yourself, do anything you can to achieve that in order to get on with your life in a purposeful way. Put the Holy Spirit in charge of your case. He will not fail you.

Galatians 6:9-10  "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. ¹⁰ Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers". Recognise you have choices and make the right choice mindfully to help someone else every single day. Everybody knows somebody who needs help to put a smile on their face and if you don't then go find someone. There are many sad people in today's society. We need to think of them more and less of ourselves. This not only blesses them but blesses us too.

1 Thessalonians 5:15
 "Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else" - Do not stoop to another person's level in order to gain retribution. Retribution is a bitter and ungodly act. Instead, pray for them, do not say unkind things and you may have the opportunity to bless them with the Holy Spirit if God commands you to. Being full of hatred and bitterness is hard, forgiving is easy and a free pass to happiness, joy and freedom. Do not return evil for evil but seek to do good as this verse says.

Aim to always show kindness and seek to do good. The more practice you get the more natural it will become.

There is a reason why we are dysfunctional but we have to take responsibility for how we are going to overcome it. Stop explaining your bad traits away with your past issues of abuse, addiction and such. Are you waiting on God to heal you or is God watching and waiting on you trying first to heal yourself? Sometimes we believe that by walking away from the abuse and such that we have left it behind. We haven't. It's with us, inside us. It's that negative, angry voice that frequents our minds. The Holy Spirit will let you know when it is time to move on, when it's time to stop being angry, sad or hurting and time for you to be the person that God wants you to be and who Jesus died for you to be.

Don't run when things become painful. God will sometimes put things in our path, either present or past issues that our instinct reaction is "not that God, I'm not ready yet". But God knows if the time is right for us. Person after person after person in the Bible ran, Moses ran from Egypt, Hagar ran with a bad attitude, God told Jonah to go to Nineveh and he went in the opposite direction and ended up in the stomach of a whale, Elijah ran from Jezebel, sat under a tree and waited to die. Running is not going to do you any good, it did none of the above people any good. You are just putting off the inevitable. Face up to it knowing that God is right with you in your heart.

Forgive those who hurt you and forgive yourself.

Occasionally, or maybe more so we may find ourselves unhealthily indulging in a pity party where we might say things such as "well you just don't understand how hard it is" "you try being abused for 20 years then tell me how easy it is to heal" "the past is always with me, it shapes my present and my future". If you truly love God, let him have his way with your life. He wants you to be happy and he knows how you can achieve that. Settle down and put your trust in God. God wants so badly for you to be completely whole and live the life that Jesus died for you to live. The world is full of hurting wounded people who don't understand the love of God and are lost. In the midst of your mess you need to reach out to someone else and be a blessing to them. God listens for free. The Holy Spirit knows you intricately, he is your counsellor, your teacher, your guide. Put the Holy Spirit in charge of your case and decide to get well. God will help complete you and make you what you want to be.


 
And one important thing, enjoy the journey! There is no good achieved in being miserable for the next 40 yrs whilst God is trying to fix you, enjoy the ride, participate, feel it.


 
Are you ready to take the ride???

Dealing with the past

When you have been hurt or abused it is very easy to get stuck in that painful place in your mind. By adulthood you are at a very high risk of leading a dysfunctional life. You may be a workaholic, a perfectionist or maybe have become a loner with the theory that if you mix with no one then no one can hurt you again. Often one dysfunctional person will marry another dysfunctional person and they in turn will raise dysfunctional children. But God recognises your value and worth no matter how big and traumatic your past was.

Many of us have a testimony of how bad our life has been to date. We mustn't get stuck in the past, we need to make a conscious effort to move forward with God. The promises made by God are for whosoever will embark on this journey. If you want to get well you can but it is a process and God is by your side through it. It won't happen overnight, it will take time and it will be the hardest process you ever go through but the harvest will be bountiful.

When something happens to you and you become stuck in the moment or in the middle of the trauma mentally it is pretty frustrating for God as he is waiting to help you get well and heal. But he can't do that until we lose our negative attitude and choose the healing path. Many don't believe they can ever have wholeness. I certainly used to believe that. But Jesus died so that we could have a life in abundance that we can enjoy. We can enjoy every step of our healing journey, we don't need to wait until the end to start smiling. Nothing makes the devil madder than for you to enjoy your life, so get out there and LIVE!!!

Adults get stuck but children have the ability to move on. Perhaps adults should take some life lessons from them. Just because we are an adult doesn't mean that we can't be a child at the same time as a way of making up for innocence lost. Get down on the floor and play dress up and let's pretend with your kids. It's lots of fun. Honest!

You don't have to be stuck if you don't want to.

Spend the rest of your life striving for complete wholeness.

In John 5:1-12 - We read of a crippled man, laying at the side of the healing pool at Bethesda on his mat, he had done so for 38 years. Jesus approached him and asked him if he wanted to be well, He replied that he had nobody when the water is moving to put him into that pool and therefore someone always got there first when the angel stirred the waters. But why did he not inch himself nearer to it over the years? The simple fact is that didn't want to. He wanted someone else to do it for him, he wanted someone else to take responsibility for his situation. Jesus commanded him to get up and clean up his bed(his past) and take it with him to deal with. God wants us to get ourselves well and clear up our own mess from the past and he has given us the power to do so if we choose to recognise it.

Some people love their dysfunction, it becomes their identity and are they are not willing to get over it. But the need to get over it is so important You can't do anything about what you have lost but you can do lots about the rest of your life. Don't spend the rest of your life bleeding and bruised. Spend every single day getting the devil back for what he did to you in your past. Overcome evil with good.

If anybody can have wholeness YOU can have wholeness. Make the decision that if anyone is going to be healed then YOU are. You need to find the strength of God inside you and realise it's going to be tough and will hurt along the way but the end result will be astounding, amazing and life changing and the constant hurt from the past will lose its hold over you.

Allow yourself to be free to be all you can be in the Holy Spirit. Jesus bought it all for us on the cross. The very least we can do is enjoy the freedom and live our lives to the fullest in his honour.

Self pity is one of the most disastrous things, "what about me?"," woe is me". GET UP!! Don't waste one more day feeling sorry for yourself. Tell the devil all the good things you have in your life and that you are going to heaven, because you will, don't ever doubt that. You can be pitiful or powerful but you can't be both - take your pick.

Philippians 3:13 " Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead" - Jesus died for a purpose, so that you can have this quality of life that is so amazing. Say to yourself "I am going to take everything I can in this life to enjoy it".

There is nothing sadder than a sad Christian. We need to be full time happy. Negative and pathetic thoughts are pointless when we have the power of the universe dwelling inside of us. There is a lot of pain, injustice, loss and so on in the world but God is good

 

Are you willing to recover? really, truly???

 

 

Your Mouth

Lord watch over me as I sin with my tongue.

Proverbs 6:6-8 "Listen, for I have trustworthy things to say; I open my lips to speak what is right. ⁷ My mouth speaks what is true, for my lips detest wickedness.⁸ All the words of my mouth are just; none of them is crooked or perverse." - I am going to pray and confess with my mouth but I will not let devil use my mouth to spread his evil.

Psalm 19:14 "May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer."
- Let the words out of my mouth be acceptable to God, but when I make a mistake I must repent and truly repent.

The Bible tells us not to not judge, gossip, pass comment and criticise where it is not warranted.

Idle words that have no power or positivity are power draining words and there is no place for those in our life. By only speaking nice words we take the power away from the devil.

We must never criticise the weak or troubled, instead we must pray that they may be delivered from their situation.

James 1:26 "Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless". - by speaking ill you delude your heart and affect your joy. The Bible says we should not use the same mouth to curse men and to praise God. So we need to make a choice of whether to praise or curse.

 

When Jesus was about to go to the cross and in John 14 Jesus says I will not be talking with you much more. I am going to be under more pressure than anyone will ever know and the devil has no opening in my life and I am just going to keep quiet so as not to speak ill. The best thing to do when under pressure and are likely to speak ill is to take yourself somewhere quiet to renew your mind.

Once we have spoken our words we cannot take them back so we have to be mindful about what comes out of our mouths. Our words are an indicator of a level of our spiritual maturity.

Make a decision to keep your mouth so busy blessing so that there is no room for the wrong words to come in.

 

Curse or praise - make your choice!!!

Restoration

God is a restorer - he has the power to restore a life, a human being, a marriage. Nothing is beyond him. God loves us all no matter what and he can send messages to restore. God can restore us from the most horrific things that we were either the victim or perpetrator of. He also restores people with the devil inside. No one is that far gone that God cannot restore them.

God knows us in infinite detail and knows exactly what restoration we need. He can heal memories so that they don't haunt us anymore. Most of us are stuck back in our story and part of us is still afraid and angry about how we were wronged. We have to invite Jesus in to cleanse and free us. He is the way. He is the light and he will rewrite our past and free us. Our believing has to change.

The Bible is a new set of beliefs and when our mind is renewed to think how God thinks then all things become good because God is good and can make us a better person. They were demonic things that Satan slipped into our lives, it wasn't us that were demonic. The mercy of God holds no bounds. At a higher point of healing we become detached from that part of our past and become to talk about it in an abstract way. We are new creatures in Christ and restoration is a whole new beginning from the past. Restoration has a ripple effect as he heals us from the inside out.

And his love changes us. God wants a restoration in all of us. To know God is eternal life, and that is not just going to church once a week, that achieves little. It's a matter of committing your life to Jesus and living each day as he would. We have to invite God into our mess and he will help us sort it through restoration.

You are loved.

God chooses you!

 

Will you let him in???

Live Holy

"Be holy, for I am holy".

We all have dark thoughts but if we fill our mind with fascination then they won't take over.

Humans want entertainment more than anything apart from food and water. Entertainment is the desire to fill a hole in our spirit. This is why we become preoccupied with God, to fill that hole that right way.

Without touching God is new ways we become spiritually bored and boring and that allows the enemy in. When our spirit is captivated with Jesus we can captivate others. When spiritually bored we are more at risk of the darkness. If you live fascinated then there is no need to become fascinated by dark things and immorality. Make your heart alive and lovesick for God. Everyone is weak and broken until the Holy Spirit touches us, but that will only happen if we want it.

Hebrews 11:25 - Moses chose to say no to the passing pleasure of sin. Sin is pleasurable but only momentarily. Sin is not more interesting than connecting with God, but at a moment of sin we may believe that due to the devil. The pleasure of God is superior to everything. But the Devil tempts us with sin and says we will get more satisfaction with him than seeking God. God will fulfil us in glorious ways. To quote John Piper "Sin is what we do when our hearts are not satisfied with God"
"God is most satisfied with us when we are happy in him". We have to deny the inferior pleasure of sin. We must aim to obey God 100%. There is a powerful, surprising dynamic that happens inside our heart when we pursue 100% obedience. We have to surrender our whole life, we can't keep anything back, i.e. choosing to obey in every way. We have to give our all to Christ.



Do you surrender???

Some thoughts to ponder on

Jesus Christ is the answer to everything. There is no one beyond his reach. Everyone can be restored.

Hope can be renewed. Your mind can be renewed with God's word.

God has a purpose for your life.

If God can do anything for anybody then God can do something for you.

The Lord forgets no one. No matter who you are or where you are at you are not forgotten.

God hears you. He has a plan for your breakthrough.

God restores lives through the power of his Word.

There is no one beyond God's reach.

God says you have a choice to either believe what you think or choose to believe what God thinks.

Your past does not have to destroy your future.

God will always replace what the enemy has stolen from you if you allow him.

Amazing things can happen in your life through the Word of God.

God can give you a new identity.

Renew your mind to see yourself how God sees you.

You are not in a position to effectively help others and give them true hope until you yourself are fully healed.

There is nothing that has been done to you that surprises God.

And finally..

 

God loves you unconditionally, he always has and he always will do.

 

 

Obedience and self control

I think that sometimes we forget the price that people pay to help others. It is easier to walk on by than to stop and help others but as Jesus taught us to help then so we ought.

 

Without discipline and self control you will never be the person you want to be. It takes self control to be able to do that. Sometimes you want to do something really bad and are on the verge before you hear God say no. Your flesh has a tantrum but you obey God. The most important thing in all our lives is that we learn to be promptly, totally obedient to God. Some of our problems in life stem strictly from disobedience and that opens the door for the devil to come in. We need to resist the devil and he will flee.

James 4:7 - "Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you". Jesus never had much trouble with the devil as he was obedient. He walked in love and stayed in peace.

How many things do you still have in your possession that God has told you to give away? You might have almost got radical and obeyed God but you hung onto it at the last minute in case you or someone else needed it someday. Give whatever God tells us to give. Whatever we have if it doesn't have God's anointing on it for us then it isn't going to bless us. So once God tells us in our heart to give away things that we are attached to we need to learn to give away. It's not easy at first, in fact it can be a huge challenge but trust in the Lord. We are stewards of God. We are not possessors of anything. Sometimes he may ask us to give away something we really like to someone we really don't like. This can be yet another arduous task if we allow it to be. Everything God asks us to do is going to be ultimately for our good. We are only cheating ourselves if we don't listen and obey. We may make excuse after excuse but ultimately we need to submit and obey to God. Even the little things are important such as gifting someone with one of your small possessions.

God's plan for our life is destiny to be moulded into the image of Jesus Christ in all our ways.

God needs us to bless people as a means of conveying his love. He uses both people and monetary things to show love to people.

Once God tells you to give something away it is no longer anointed for you and if you keep it you will never enjoy it after that. If we are asked to give something financial away and we don't, the chances are that the devil will take it away from us anyway, so either way the money (or whatever) is gone so is it not best to give it away of our own volition under God's guidance?

Disobedience opens the door for the devil. Don't be so foolish as to not open your heart up to God and those areas where you are being disobedient. You feel guilty and condemned when disobedient. Stop being disobedient as God has so much more for you, more peace, joy, power, authority, blessings, anointing. What happens in our life is directly connected with our obedience. Our salvation is purchased with the blood of Christ.

Ephesians 4:27 - "Don't give the devil a foothold in your life". Do yourself a favour and forgive - if you don't forgive you put YOURSELF in prison whilst the person who has done wrong is free.

There are levels of loving God. You can be as close or distant as you want to be. Our personal issues keep us distant. Obedience to God will draw us closer. Whatever you ask God to do he will do it through you if you allow him.

Wisdom tells us not to do/buy something but we do it anyway. We are rebuking the devil as we are now under so much financial pressure because we did not listen to God.

How many things have you committed to that are causing you stress in your life that you never consulted with God as to whether we should do them? And we end up so stressed and ill because of it. We should have spoken to God about it. We get involved in things if we are nosey or through pressure of people wanting us to. Jesus didn't die for us so we could be frustrated. He died so that we might have peace and abundance of life. Sometimes we are stuck at a point in our life where God has asked us to do something but we can't make that decision so we remain stuck partway along the road. Until we make the decision nothing with change, we will not move down the road.

Submission is an attitude of the heart, not an act you put on. Learn to be submissive to the authority that God has placed in your life. Take responsibility for the hurt caused to you and don't spend all your life healing from the past. Forgive and let it go and go prosper!!!

Our flesh will do anything to squirm out of doing the hard thing, it prefers to take the easy route in any given situation. Taking responsibility is sometimes very hard, not just for you but for everyone around you. Admitting that you are unhappy because you have a bad attitude is a brave thing to do. It's hard to accept the negative traits that we have, but it's a far braver thing to confront them and work them through.

Maybe you are frustrated because things are not going as you wish in your life. Sitting around feeling sorry for yourself is ungodly. It's tempting. You can be pitiful or powerful but you can't be both. God's got more in store for you than unhappiness and unrest. God calls us to do amazing things. He offers us opportunities but we must be prepared to seize them. It is our responsibility to prepare ourselves for the change God puts in our lives.

Deuteronomy 6:17 " Be sure to keep the commands of the LORD your God and the stipulations and decrees he has given you" - Basically God is telling us in this verse to do as he tells us to do so that we can experience the good plan that he has for our lives.

But for this to happen you need to be obedient with your attitude. You can't just go to church on a Sunday then sit disobedient the rest of the week, obedience is a full time attitude. "I go to church every Sunday I don't know why my life is such a mess" .. go figure!

Discipline and self control should be your friend, a tool for you to use, not a legalistic rule that you are forced to live by. But then we find ourselves getting judgemental about those who do not follow the same rules as we do. We need to focus and be led by the spirit. We do not need to follow laws as Jesus took the laws to the cross with him. Discipline is your ability to say no to yourself and say yes to God. If you will help me God I will say no to myself no matter how hard it feels and say yes to you as I know it will lead to fruitfulness. Wise people feel and think more about the future, foolish people only think about now.

Romans 7:6 "  But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code. " - We have nothing to do with the law anymore, living under the law brings death. We live under the obedience of the spirit that has brought us newness of life.

Be principled, live by your principles and your obedience right down to the small things in your life..

Applying this to your life and it will be life changing. Making a commitment to live this way will lead to a deeper intimacy with God as you invite him into every area of your life.

The power of the holy ghost worketh in me.

Don't think that what you do doesn't matter so long as no one sees you for God sees everything!

Everything that God tells us to do is for our own benefit.

Do you want the best for your life? Then listen to God.

 

Lord, I invite you into every aspect of my life, do you invite him in?

 

Pitiful or powerful, which do you decide???

 

Meditate on the Word

Meditate on everything positive each day until the process becomes a part of your life.

 

Make your mind up - Anyone can get over a negative past, whether that is an issue with abuse, drugs or any other addiction or trauma. You can have victories in your life with the right attitude. Lift it up to God and focus on all the positives in your life. When the devil is in your mind it will be hard for you to see this but concentrate, write a list maybe of all the things in your life that are going good for you. Number 1 - Jesus loves you!!!

2 Corinthians 5:17 "therefore if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: the old has gone, the new is here!" We get a new self in the depths of our spirit. Everything we got when we were saved was on the inside. The seed (Jesus) entered us. We then need to show the changes on the outside by making overt adaptations and adjustments to our life. To begin with, sometimes we know what to do but we find it hard to actually do it, such as treating others right. Before anything can show on the outside we need to work out our roots, what is going on inside of us. The root takes a hold inside and then the changes above ground can begin. Water the seed (Jesus) that has been planted in your spirit. The shoots will begin to grow and grow and you will reach the point that you no longer recognise your new self, which interestingly (or not) all starts in your mind. One of the fundamental concepts that we have to grasp is that nothing will change in our life unless we change our mind to the way that God wants you to think.

Too many of us live by how we feel. This is a habit that we need to stop. If we don't get our mind renewed to the word of God then we are never going to live a successful life or be fulfilled. God gave us life and put his spirit in us when we were saved. This gets put in the middle of our mess/issues. We had to suffer in order not to keep feeding our flesh. Whilst we keep giving in to the flesh we will never be free and have permanent internal suffering. Quite simply it's a case of no pain no gain.

I don't want to suffer eternally and I am prepared to fight and work hard to ensure that I don't. Are you willing to allow yourself to be uncomfortable for a while now in order to have great results eternally?

Galatians 5:16 "  So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh"- We all have a tendency to concentrate too much on what people shouldn't do and not on what people should do. Turn your mind and think more about what people should or could be doing in their quest of Faith. A key tool in your walk is to keep your mind full of the good things in order that there is no place for the devil and his evil to get in. The devil will sneak into the smallest of cracks in your mind if you are not careful.

 

Keep your mind full of goodness.

Get honest with God.

Let the devil know that you will not give up

Learn to think how God thinks according to his word.

Pay no heed to the devil and cast ungodly thoughts down.

 

Are you strong enough???

 

Demon on your shoulder

The Bible states that we have guardian angels. The fact of the matter is that as well as God sending guardian angels Satan probably sent demons too. The devil is clever. He lies to us, we must not listen to him and let him twist our mind. All of our problems start in our mind. The mind is our biggest problem, our battlefield. We have to be careful of our thoughts as we know the devil is a liar and will manipulate our mind if we are not careful. He will put doubts in our mind inferring that we will not be set free. We need to put the devil in his place. We have to be careful about our thoughts as the devil is a liar. We should not let the devil put doubts in our mind about who we are in Christ.

There are two ways to handle to devil, believe him and go down, down, down or listen to the Bible and do as Jesus says and use your word to ensure that the enemy doesn't defeat you.

 

Romans 8:4 "in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit". We are led by the spirit, governed by the spirit and we will meet the full requirements of the Lord. To walk in the spirit we cannot walk in the flesh, it is impossible to do both.

Romans 8:5 "Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires". If you are walking in the flesh it is because you have your mind on the flesh. "where the mind goes, the man follows" . You CAN help what you think, you need to think what you are thinking about. Do your homework, cast down the wrong thoughts, pay attention to what is going on in your life. Sometimes our thoughts make a situation bigger than what it actually is. If we control our thoughts we can control our circumstances and joy, peace and other wonderful things will appear in abundance.

2 Timothy 1:7"For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline". God has given you a sound mind, not a spirit of fear. You have a spirit of discipline and self control. You have to start saying what God says and stop saying what you, we, a neighbour, anyone says and at that point powerful things will start to happen. This is how you fight the good fight of faith, and you get stronger by doing it over and over and over.

The devil will try to steal your confidence and what God has put in your heart by injecting fear into you. God has not given us fear, but hope, positivity and faith. Use them.

Colossians 3:1-2 "Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. ² Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. ³ For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God". - This passage is not about golden gates, harps etc, but about the price that Jesus paid for you to have freedom, peace and hope in every situation. You are encouraged to like yourself no matter what others say about you and to know that you are an individual blessed by God. Praise be to God that you are free to be who you are and don't have be or pretend to be anyone else.

God has put so much power in your mind that it can be a struggle to tap into the huge power and creative ability in there. Think about the amazing things that one person could accomplish if they learn how to think right. The possibilities are endless so long as you don't let the devil in. You need to make your mind up that you are going to be one of the ones that has what God offers us.

Stop talking about your mess (past abuse etc) and about the answers that are in God's word. No one can do this for you. You need to do it yourself.

You can do anything God tells you to, anything thrown at you through Christ you can handle as you are a warrior of faith.

Nothing is more beneficial than a made up mind. Make your mind up and there will be no turning back. Your past may have been bad, filled with abuse and other damaging things but through the mercy and grace of God you can turn everything around. Make a decision that you are going to be the real deal. Don't say what you are going to do - DO IT! It's no good just listening to a message on a life issue. That doesn't solve the issue, it merely plants a seed which you then need to water to allow it to grow in your life. You need to think according to God's word. Don't be controlled by the devil, don't let him in. Be controlled by the holy spirit.

 

"Everything that Jesus died for me to have I am going to have it!" - Are you???