We can stand affliction better than we can prosperity, for in prosperity we forget God.
D. L. Moody
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Step By Step
August 6, 2013 
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“He [Satan] will take away your prayer life little by little, and cause you to trust God less and less and yourself more and more, a little at a time. He will make you feel somewhat cleverer than before. Step by step, you are misled to rely more on your own gift, and step by step your heart is enticed away from the Lord.”
Stay Connected
August 6, 2013 9 Comments
John 15:1-9 (VOICE)
Jesus: I am the true vine, and My Father is the keeper of the vineyard. My Father examines every branch in Me and cuts away those who do not bear fruit. He leaves those bearing fruit and carefully prunes them so that they will bear more fruit; already you are clean because you have heard My voice. Abide in Me, and I will abide in you. A branch cannot bear fruit if it is disconnected from the vine, and neither will you if you are not connected to Me.
I am the vine, and you are the branches. If you abide in Me and I in you, you will bear great fruit. Without Me, you will accomplish nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is like a branch that is tossed out and shrivels up and is later gathered to be tossed into the fire to burn. If you abide in Me and My voice abides in you, anything you ask will come to pass for you. Your abundant growth and your faithfulness as My followers will bring glory to the Father.
At a time when all of His disciples are feeling as if they are about to be uprooted, Jesus sketches a picture of this new life as a flourishing vineyard—a labyrinth of vines and strong branches steeped in rich soil, abundant grapes hanging from their vines ripening in the sun. Jesus sculpts a new garden of Eden in their imaginations—one that is bustling with fruit, sustenance, and satisfying aromas. This is the Kingdom life. It is all about connection, sustenance, and beauty. But within this promise of life is the warning that people must be in Christ or they will not experience these blessings.
Show Me…
August 5, 2013 6 Comments
Lord, I want to show the kindness of Your heart today. Please show me who I can help and in what way. I want my words and deeds to convey Your love. Amen.
The First Job Each Morning
August 4, 2013 15 Comments
The moment you wake up each morning, all your wishes and hopes for the day rush at you like wild animals. And the first job each morning consists in shoving it all back; in listening to that other voice, taking that other point of view, letting that other, larger, stronger, quieter life coming flowing in.
C. S. Lewis
Unfailing love
August 2, 2013 5 Comments
Psalm 89:1-2 (VOICE)
I will sing of Your unfailing love, Eternal One, forever.
I will speak of Your faithfulness to all generations.
I will tell how Your unfailing love will always stand strong;
and how Your faithfulness is established in the heavens above.
God Wants To Use You
August 2, 2013 8 Comments
There are times when God wants to use you in someone else’s life; it may not be pretty or comfortable, but they need to see Jesus!
The Peace Of God
July 31, 2013 8 Comments
Philippians 4:6-7 (VOICE)
Don’t be anxious about things; instead, pray. Pray about everything. He longs to hear your requests, so talk to God about your needs and be thankful for what has come. And know that the peace of God (a peace that is beyond any and all of our human understanding) will stand watch over your hearts and minds in Jesus, the Anointed One.
Are You Carrying A Grudge?
July 30, 2013 8 Comments
To carry a grudge is like being stung to death by one wasp!
Diet or Die – Part 2
July 30, 2013 16 Comments
Romans 12:1 (VOICE)
Brothers and sisters, in light of all I have shared with you about God’s mercies, I urge you to offer your bodies as a living and holy sacrifice to God, a sacred offering that brings Him pleasure; this is your reasonable, essential worship.
My Thoughts 💭
wow what a roller coaster of a journey so far this year as I battle with my life long overeating fleshly desire! God has taught me so much this year about facing giants and humbling myself before him in prayer each morning to die daily, pick up my cross and follow Jesus.
If only my body would’ve heard my prayer too! lol.
I started my inner revolution at the end of January (see Part 1) and as of this morning i’ve lost 1Stone 5lbs (19lbs) and i’m truly blessed with the work God is doing in me.
📖 Verse 4 2day!
Romans 7:10-12 (VOICE)
This commandment was supposed to bring life; but in my experience, it brought death. Sin took advantage of the commandment, tricked me, and exploited it in order to kill me.
Over the years i’ve always made my own commandments/rules when setting up a diet or healthy eating plan such as:
- only having one takeaway a month
- cutting down on fried foods
- Not eating supper late at night just before I go to bed
- And on, and on, and on
This only aroused my sin and focused my mind on the foods I was cutting out, as my body loved them and had lived on them up until this point. Predictably I failed (or learnt how not to do it) then carried on eating junk food to put on more weight than I started with!
It was only when I stopped trying to make lists etc and give it all to God, did I notice a huge difference.
I’m able to eat all foods which has stopped me focusing on the ones i’d usually cut out, but now I feel so good I don’t want to choose anything that’s going to bring me down or make me feel tired. I no longer feel that I want takeaways as i’m enjoying the feeling that healthy foods give me.
I had to fight temptation from every angle, but even when I lapsed, I didn’t stay down feeling like a failure, I jumped right back into prayer and staggered on through my personal storm.
🙏 Prayer 4 2day!
“Father, I ask that You would give me a moment to pause, right now, to contemplate what You say is true about my nature—that I am both dead to sin, and alive in Christ. This is too deep, too profound for me. I need You to lead me into the Truth so that I can be free to live according to my new nature as the Spirit leads and empowers me. Amen.”
Part 3 (Dec 2013)
Please keep me in your prayers! 🙂
Resting in the Lord ~
July 30, 2013 0 Comments
I’m resting,
I’m waiting on the Lord
some people say . . .
I look a little bored.
But, I’m trusting,
see how I am still
it’s because I know
it’s all about His will.
Yep, that me,
looking sweet as a lamb
Only because I know . . .
He sees me as I am.
Waiting, anticipating,
nothing to worry about
I have faith in my Lord
what is there to doubt?
God’s timing is perfect,
so I am just hanging
He’s teaching me to be still
and I’m not even panting!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Be still, and know that I am God:”
King James Version
Public Domain
Copyright 2013
Deborah Ann Belka
In Perfect Sync With God’s Spirit
July 29, 2013 6 Comments
Galatians 5:13-26 (VOICE)
Brothers and sisters, God has called you to freedom! Hear the call, and do not spoil this gift by using your liberty to engage in what your flesh desires; instead, use it to serve each other as Jesus taught through love. For the whole law comes down to this one instruction: “Love your neighbor as yourself,” so why all this vicious gnawing on each other? If you are not careful, you will find you’ve eaten each other alive!
Here’s my instruction: walk in the Spirit, and let the Spirit bring order to your life. If you do, you will never give in to your selfish and sinful cravings. For everything the flesh desires goes against the Spirit, and everything the Spirit desires goes against the flesh. There is a constant battle raging between them that prevents you from doing the good you want to do. But when you are led by the Spirit, you are no longer subject to the law.
It’s clear that our flesh entices us into practicing some of its most heinous acts: participating in corrupt sexual relationships, impurity, unbridled lust, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, arguing, jealousy, anger, selfishness, contentiousness, division, envy of others’ good fortune, drunkenness, drunken revelry, and other shameful vices that plague humankind. I told you this clearly before, and I only tell you again so there is no room for confusion: those who give in to these ways will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Paul has been preaching about the call of God to freedom, and so he now spells it out: we are done with the demands of the law; now we are free to live in the Spirit and to be truly right with God. As free people, the Spirit gives us the characteristics of Jesus; we, too, can freely love in joy and peace. We can have patience along with kindness and faithfulness that can only come from the Father. We can reflect the goodness of God while being gentle in operating with self-control. For those who follow Him and live in the Spirit, these characteristics or fruits are a gift from God. As we grow in the faith, we find that we belong to God and can walk daily in the Spirit.
The Holy Spirit produces a different kind of fruit: unconditional love, joy, peace, patience, kindheartedness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. You won’t find any law opposed to fruit like this. Those of us who belong to the Anointed One have crucified our old lives and put to death the flesh and all the lusts and desires that plague us.
Now since we have chosen to walk with the Spirit, let’s keep each step in perfect sync with God’s Spirit. This will happen when we set aside our self-interests and work together to create true community instead of a culture consumed by provocation, pride, and envy.
Real Rebellion
July 29, 2013 8 Comments
‘Drinking beer is easy. Trashing your hotel room is easy. But being a Christian, that’s a tough call. That’s real rebellion.’
Alice Cooper
Prayer For Unity
July 28, 2013 5 Comments
Lord Jesus we prayed that your people would be one, forgive us Lord and take away the pride and arrogance which divides your church. Break down the walls that separate us; unite us by your spirit ant teach us how to love each other.
Help us to humbly kneel before you and surrender all, Please guide us to be transformed by the renewing of our minds as we seek to find your good and pleasing will, Amen.
My Thoughts 💭
The church I attend on sunday mornings has been without a pastor for well over a year now, so I post this prayer to try and help the body of believers unite and stay faithful to our awesome God.
I’d also love prayers from all of my amazing sisters and brothers here for this church as we seek to find a spirit filled, mature and wise pastor.
Ask God For It!
July 28, 2013 9 Comments
James 1:2-11 (VOICE)
Don’t run from tests and hardships, brothers and sisters. As difficult as they are, you will ultimately find joy in them; if you embrace them, your faith will blossom under pressure and teach you true patience as you endure. And true patience brought on by endurance will equip you to complete the long journey and cross the finish line—mature, complete, and wanting nothing. If you don’t have all the wisdom needed for this journey, then all you have to do is ask God for it; and God will grant all that you need. He gives lavishly and never scolds you for asking.
Wisdom, as James understands it, is the ability to live life well and make good decisions. Wisdom doesn’t come from old age or hard knocks. Wisdom begins with knowing and depending absolutely on God, who is never stingy when it comes to wisdom for those who seek it. He supplies all the wisdom we need when we ask. But when we try to go it alone—without God—trouble is around the corner.
The key is that your request be anchored by your single-minded commitment to God. Those who depend only on their own judgment are like those lost on the seas, carried away by any wave or picked up by any wind. Those adrift on their own wisdom shouldn’t assume the Lord will rescue them or bring them anything. The splinter of divided loyalty shatters your compass and leaves you dizzy and confused.
God’s Love Is Greater Than Our Doubts
July 27, 2013 13 Comments
1 John 3:2-3 (VOICE)
My loved ones, we have been adopted into God’s family; and we are officially His children now. The full picture of our destiny is not yet clear, but we know this much: when Jesus appears, we will be like Him because we will see Him just as He is. All those who focus their hopes on Him and His coming seek to purify themselves just as He is pure.
When we feel like we are not good enough to be loved by God, we should remember that God’s love is greater than our doubts. We must silence the sounds of condemnation so we can hear the voice of God’s loving assurance and remember that He has selected us to be part of His family.
Don’t Undervalue Yourself!
July 27, 2013 1 Comment
Don’t undervalue yourself. Your worth is what you are worth to God. In his eyes your life is priceless. You are of infinite value.
My Fortress
July 26, 2013 2 Comments
Psalm 18:1-3 (VOICE)
I love You, Eternal One, source of my power.
The Eternal is my rock, my fortress, and my salvation;
He is my True God, the stronghold in which I hide,
my strong shield, the horn that calls forth help, and my tall-walled tower.
I call out to the Eternal, who is worthy to be praised—
that’s how I will be rescued from my enemies.
Are You Too Busy?
July 26, 2013 24 Comments
We hurt people by being too busy. Too busy to notice their needs. Too busy to drop that note of comfort or encouragement or assurance of love. Too busy to listen when someone needs to talk. Too busy to care!
Billy Graham
Daily Prompt: A Friend In Need
July 25, 2013 19 Comments
Finish this sentence: “My closest friend is…”
My lovely wife Sarah!!!
Daily Post ~ Photographers, artists, poets: show us FRIENDSHIP.
⇧ Me & Sarah at Friday Street, Surrey, UK ⇧
Do Not Fear, Only Believe
July 25, 2013 8 Comments
Mark 5:35-36
While he was still speaking, there came from the ruler’s house some who said, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?” But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.”
🎸 Song 4 2day!
A Book That Understands Me
July 25, 2013 9 Comments
Father, I thank You for giving me a book that understands me.” By the power of your Spirit in me, stir up these words of yours in my mind and heart so that my life might naturally reflect who I am in you and who you are in me. Amen.
The Tragedy Of Life
July 25, 2013 2 Comments
The tragedy of life is not that it ends so soon, but that we wait so long to begin it.
W. M. Lewis
Blessed Is The One Who…..
July 24, 2013 Comments Off on Blessed Is The One Who…..
Psalm 1:1-6 (NIV)
Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers,
but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night.
That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—
whatever they do prospers.
Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away.
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.
The Bridge Of Forgiveness
July 24, 2013 9 Comments
He who doesn’t forgive another, Breaks down the bridge over which he must cross himself!
Spiritual Fullness In Christ
July 24, 2013 0 Comments
Colossians 2:6-7 (NIVUK)
So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
The Person You Made Me To Be
July 23, 2013 17 Comments
Father, we both know that the selfish pleasures of the world will spoil and ruin the body You’ve given me. Help me to stop choosing things that will wear me down. Give me strength to choose the things that will build me up so that I can be the person you made me to be. Amen.
A WORD A WEEK CHALLENGE – Curve
July 23, 2013 7 Comments
Are You Paying Interest?
July 22, 2013 8 Comments
Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength. It does not enable us to escape evil. It makes us unfit to face evil when it comes. It is the interest you pay on trouble before it comes.
Corrie ten Boom
“The way to worry about nothing is to pray about everything”
Daily Prompt: Party Animals (?)
July 21, 2013 10 Comments
Experience
July 20, 2013 12 Comments
Experience: that most brutal of teachers. But you learn, my God do you learn. C S Lewis
Weekly Photo Challenge: Fresh
July 19, 2013 22 Comments
⇧ Sarah loved her FRESH strawberries on toast whilst on holiday! ⇧
⇧ FRESH waterfall in the HOT ‘Rainforest Biome” at the Eden Project ⇧
⇧ A pigs idea of FRESH!! ⇧
Daily Prompt: Fly on the Wall
July 19, 2013 6 Comments
Photographers, artists, poets: show us SNEAKY
📖 Verse 4 2day!
Proverbs 5:21 (NIVUK)
For your ways are in full view of the Lord,
and he examines all your paths.
This daily prompt instantly reminded me of how alert Bruce used to be. If you tried to sneak anywhere, as soon as you look up, he is stood watching you! 😀
Sarah also sneaks photos of me and my camera too!
⇧ Bruce catching me sneaking up the stairs! ⇧
⇧ And I thought I was the one taking the photos! ⇧
Blessed Is The One Who…..
July 19, 2013 0 Comments
Psalms 1:1-6 (NIV)
Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers,
but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night.
That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—
whatever they do prospers.
Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away.
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.
An Atheist & God
July 19, 2013 14 Comments
An atheist can’t find God for the same reason a thief can’t find a policeman.
Adrian Rogers
Are You Being Robbed Of The Truth
July 18, 2013 6 Comments
1 Timothy 6:3-10
False Teachers and the Love of Money
These are the things you are to teach and insist on. If anyone teaches otherwise and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, they are conceited and understand nothing. They have an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions and constant friction between people of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain.
But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
✞ Music “I Wish I Knew Then” by Carlene Davis
July 18, 2013 0 Comments
We’re in the middle of a heat wave here in the UK, so i thought this would be a great summer song! 😀
Find Worth
July 18, 2013 8 Comments
God, thank You SO much for holding us to a different standard than the world. Releasing me from the constantly changing expectations that are unachievable is relieving. Help me to focus on Your gift, a salvation I cannot earn, and find worth in that above anything else! Amen.
My Thoughts 💭
Judge your worth and value by what God says about you in His Word, not by how somebody else treats you!
iChristian 
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