“But those who …

“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. ” Isaiah 40: 31

God is the source of our strength and “We need to acknowledge His help and guidance and not become prideful with the attitude that we did it alone. The truth is, we don’t. We are His children and as a a dutiful and loving father, he is always there watching other us and blessing our lives.” Rebecca Ricman

Acknowledge God as the source of your strength today, and thank Him for that. He will keep you going. 

“Yet it was our…

“Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins! But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. All of us, like sheep have strayed away. We have left God’s path to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all.” Isaiah 53: 4 – 6

Jesus took our messy lives on himself in the ultimate act of love and died a death we deserve because of God’s love for us. 

Always with us

In the Bible it says God will never fail us, He will never abandon us, Hebrews 13: 5. Isaiah 41: 10 says “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” and Joshua 1: 9 says “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

God is ALWAYS with us, and NEVER leaves us. He is faithful and keeps his promises. I love this. Let this be an encouragement to you in your situation and circumstances today, whatever they are. 

 

Enjoy this worship song, You are with us by Samuel Lane

 

 

Starting the day with Jesus

I’m not a morning person at all. I try my best to stay in my warm bed until the last minute, in fact I have to set my alarm about an hour before I actually get up and sometimes get my flatmate to tell me how much I’ve got to do that day just to motivate me enough to roll out of bed.  Morning’s are a very much unloved part of the day in my household. 

Psalm 143: 8 says “Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life. 

My mentor recently challenged me about whether I start my day with Jesus, and I had to be honest and say no. Whilst I’m still in the waking up process I check my phone, I check my social media; Jesus isn’t what I’m thinking about. I’m 22, isn’t that what most young adults do? But it was a challenge, am I thinking about Jesus and being thankful for Him and all he’s done before 10am; most of the time, no. But surely I should be thanking him for the sleep that I’ve had, (or praying tomorrow’s night sleep is better), surely I should be asking Him to be in the day I have to come. My mentor suggested that when I brush my teeth to spend some time in prayer, this mean’s that every morning without fail, I will be putting God central to my day. I want my mornings to be what this Psalm says, to bring me word of His unfailing love, for Him to show me the way through the day, and for Him to know that He is my priority, I want my life to revolve around God, I want Him to be control, not me. 

Jesus set this example for us to, in Mark 1: 35 it talks of Jesus’ morning, where He went and spent time with His Dad. “And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.” I’m not someone who is insisting that morning prayer is essential, and not everyone is a morning person, I will never be! But a morning is a beginning, and I for one, want to begin with my Heavenly Dad. 

I want to begin my day in God’s presence.  Isn’t that the best place? Are you with me?

A song that has spoken to me recently is “Your Presence is Heaven to me” and especially this live version by Darlene Zschech and Israel Houghton… check it out here: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYfoptJxNWI&list=PLs9A2VszMZK97pzRl7y47TKvTMC52EhiT&index=17

God’s presence is just that, heaven, and I battle with the question why wouldn’t I want to start my day in His presence, connecting with the Heavenly Realms?

It’s an ongoing challenge, keep asking me how my teeth brushing is going! But it’s a challenge I’m desperate to pursue. I want to start my day with Jesus, nothing else but Him. 

 

The Joy of Thanksgiving

During late November and early December I was blessed to be able to spend some time in California, America. My friends Tim and Chloe are there, part of Bethel school of supernatural ministry, an amazing course run by Bethel Church in Redding. I spent 2 weeks out there, and it was AMAZING. I really felt like I grew closer to God, learnt more about myself, explored a new place and grew closer to Tim and Chloe too.

Whilst I was out there I experienced my first ever Thanksgiving. We went to an American family’s house, which was really lovely, to experience a traditional Thankgiving. We were really welcomed into the home as well. I really enjoyed celebrating with a traditional Thanksgiving meal, which by the way is yummy, and by meeting new people, being community and watching NFL on TV (which apparently is typical on Thanksgiving afternoon.)

Before the meal we prayed together saying what we were thankful for, a lovely touch, and I really really just loved the thought behind a day to share all that we can be thankful for. I think it;s so important to remember that despite our circumstances and things we are going through there is always something to thankful for.

Take a minute and think of something you are thankful for right now. Thank God for that thing. This challenge that has brought to the forefront of my mind over this season has really spurred me on in my prayers of thanks. There is a saying that goes “What happens if you wake up with only the things you thanked God for yesterday.” This, personally is such a challenge to me, and I think is a challenge for you too. We often have a list of things we want God to do for us, things we want Him to provide and sometimes we remember to add on the end of prayers something we are thankful for.

But what would happen if we actually spent a good amount of time rejoicing in what God has done for us, for what we have in our lives, for those prayers that we are waiting upon, for the fact He listens to us, is always with us and that He died for us.

The Bible says in Psalm 107: 1 that we should “Give thanks to The Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.”
So today, take some time out and thank God for all who He is, and all that He has done.

I am thankful for family, friends, shelter, love, financial security, a loving church family (2 in fact!), encouraging people placed around me, my story, my journey of becoming a youth worker, my calling, my hopes for the future, my personality that He gave me, for joy, for my mentor, for the young people I work with, for my dream career, for my skills and talents, for God who loves me, for support, for people who care about me, for my imagination, for my journey of becoming a Christian, for food in my fridge, for a lovely flatmate, for a beautiful neighbourhood, for he abilities that God has given me, for my travels that I’ve been on, for my university degree that I’ve nearly finished, for my education, for my childhood, for memories that have been made, for memories that are being made, those that are to be made in the future, for Jesus, who died for me, and for so much more.
Thank you God 🙂