Advent Day Seven

I am a christian, not because I hunger hypocrisy but because I thirst for redemption.

I am a christian, not because I am perfect but because I understand that I am not.

I am a christian, not because I have all the answers....

but because I trust in the One who does.

Anon

Hope requires us to stand on the word of God

Why do we worry? Because we see all the pit falls that life has scattered on the road ahead. Does God worry? Of course not, because He does not see pit holes, He only sees the answer. Therefore what are we doing worrying?

Isaiah 65:24

I will answer them before they even call to me. While they are still talking about their needs, I will go ahead and answer their prayers.

This is a bible truth. God will answer our needs while we are still talking about them. He has our back. He is the greatest Partner anyone could have. 

Mark 11:24

I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you have received it, it will be yours.  

That includes miracles too. And life is full of miracles waiting to happen if we pray for them and believe in God's power to fulfill them. 

My son managed to put a chisel through his finger while carving a piece of wood. It took ages for the blood to stop enough for someone to put a bandage on it, but it continued to bleed periodically if he put pressure on it. The pain was considerable. When he got home he told me about his finger and I suggested that he ought to go to hospital as it looked like it needed a stitch or two. He did not want to go so I asked him what he wanted to do. He said pray for the finger. So we prayed and believed in a miracle. And it happened. My son's finger became whole again with just the scar to show where the chisel had entered it. He was able to use it properly straight away. 

I am no one special, I am not a minister, I have no powers, I am not a 'healer' but I do believe in the power of God. And I believe in miracles. 

Hope gives you that belief because it insists that you stand on the word of God. 

Luke 9:1-6

One day Jesus called together his twelve disciples and gave them power and authority to cast out all demons and to heal all diseases. Then he sent them out to tell everyone about the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick.“Take nothing for your journey,” he instructed them. “Don’t take a walking stick, a traveler’s bag, food, money,[b] or even a change of clothes. Wherever you go, stay in the same house until you leave town. And if a town refuses to welcome you, shake its dust from your feet as you leave to show that you have abandoned those people to their fate.” So they began their circuit of the villages, preaching the Good News and healing the sick.

This was the scripture my son and I stood on and believed in the certain Hope that his finger would be healed. 

Hope is that powerful. 

When we worry we walk away from Hope, we walk away from the Provider of Hope. We walk away from the miracles He wants to do in our lives. Yes we will still stumble and fall as He will encourage us to take the high way with all its pitfalls as He wants us to Trust Him. We must buy into this belief, into the Hope that Trust will embrace us with. The market of life is full of opportunities to experience God's Hope and to witness to His faithfulness. In Him we can be assured of answers. Our worries are already in His hands, He is already working on the path that we need to walk to receive those answers. 

Even if the answer leads us to our own personal cross, God will be there with us, supporting us and waiting for us to hand over the cross to Him, so that we can be resurrected through it and by it. 

God knows what he is doing. We just need to trust Him and stop worrying. 

Worrying will not make God go any faster, as all things come together in His timing and for our best interest. If we turn away during the waiting time we are operating under our own timing and strength. God requires us to Trust Him no matter how long the waiting time is.  God will deliver. He has said it in the Bible and we must stand on that Truth. 

Psalm 50:15

Then call on me when you are in trouble, and I will rescue you, and you will give me glory."

Be blessed my friends.

Margaret

(www.margaretk.co.uk)

Don't give up

God first, God always - Don't give up.

Yes life throws troubles our way and at times we have to climb out of a deep pit but we must try not to give up. 

Your breakthrough may be just around the corner, it might literally be moments away from your grip. If in that moment you turn your head and walk away the answer will pass you by and your journey will be longer. That is the hardest call you will ever make. To stay just a little while longer in Trust believing that God is sorting out the mess.

'Even though you may feel that you are at the end of your rope, God has the resolution for your pain, a motive for your struggle and a gift for your faithfulness.' (quote from Christian Associates Network)

2 Timothy 1:7 For God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love and of a sound mind. 

It is human to be concerned about things but the fears start to take over when we dwell on the implications of those worries. 

God has not given us a spirit of fear. Fear comes when we feel out of control. That is why we need to take those concerns and hand them over to God. He knows the outcome of our struggles and will gift us for our faithfulness. 

God is the golden thread that winds its way through the material of our life. 

God will never give up on us.

When we struggle it is useful to think or write down the things God has done for us, the things we can be thankful for. Prayer and praise for these gifts will bring greater rewards than listing to the negative depressing areas of our lives. That just reinforces the laughter of the evil one. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7mEZtzWFuA



God is the rewarder of those who seek Him. 

Don't give up. God is the answer.

God's blessings on all of you who are struggling and need encouragement, you are not alone. Stretch out your arms to God and He will embrace you. His shoulders are very large and He will carry all your concerns. He is the greatest Father of all time. What wouldn't a Father do for His children? He cares so much.





God bless

Margaret

(www.margaretk.co.uk)

Hope and waiting

We all know these scenarios: 

"What are you doing Lord, why have you not answered my prayer? I have been crying out to you for days, weeks or even years. And nothing has happened. When are you going to do something?" 

"Right that is it Lord, you have not answered my prayer, so I am going to do something about it."

"I have been praying for my son or daughter who no longer go to church. I am afraid for them they just don't seem to care any more, please bring them back to church."

I hope I am not the only one who has behaved like this.

Firstly, God always answers our prayers. The reason we think he has not answered them, is because we have not got the answer we wanted nor expected. We may therefore have missed his answer! 

Secondly, His answer may have been 'no' to our wants, because the outcome would not have been in our best interest. Sometimes we forget that God can see our whole life, not just the predicament we may be in right now. God always works for our good even through our tears.

Romans 8:28

And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.

Thirdly, when we decide to take matters into our own hands we are stepping out of 'trust' and following our own sinful nature. Doing something is what we do when we want control. Waiting on the Lord is what we need to do, if we want God to be in control of our lives. We go back again to the wonderful verse in Jeremiah 29:11.

"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Fourthly, being a Christian means trusting God with our lives and the lives of our family. When we look at the old lovely pictures of our children all dressed up and eager to please us, we wonder what happened to that trusting child. We wonder why they no longer go to church. We pray, 'bring them back', but do we really know if they have actually gone away from God? As in my previous post when I talked about 'eternity being in our hearts', eternity never leaves our hearts. God never leaves us. He has not left your son or daughter. They are still connected. They are a whisper away from eternity. They only need to say 'sorry' and reconnect. We as parents cannot see their hearts nor hear their whisper. God can and He knows if they have left Him or not. They may not 'go to Church' but church will still be in their hearts. 

Psalm  34:4 I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.

          34:6 This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.

         34:15 The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and His ears are open to their cry.

       34:17 The righteous cry, and the Lord hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles.

The seeds we as parents planted do not die. Our prayers water them and God keeps them close to His Heart. They continue to grow in God's garden. 

It may feel like our prayers and requests have been put on hold, but remember who you are connected to, who you are ringing. The line is never engaged, in fact it is always at the Heart of the matter. 

We might be asked to hold and the following options will be given:

1. Wait

2. Trust

3. Believe

4. Be prepared

5. Accept the reward 

You will be required to select all five options.

So when you choose this path you will have to:

Wait for God's answer

Trust in His answer

Believe your life will be changed for the better when and in His timing you receive his answer. 

Be prepared for an 'outside the box' answer and to implement it into your life.

Accept the reward for waiting on God for the answer, because He rewards with eternal riches.

Phillippians 4:19

And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus

Important note:

If however, you slam the phone down because the wait is too long, and decide to take matters into your own hands, then that is your option, subject to the rules of this world. And the consequences will be determined by the world and not by God. 

All is not lost:

Nonetheless when you get back onto the phone again, God will be there waiting to hear from you. Waiting for you to come into alignment with his answer. 

Even if our waiting feels like years there is always Hope in the waiting.  

I hope this has been helpful.

God bless

Margaret

(author of 'How to make Victoria Sponge - a journey of faith)