We can stand affliction better than we can prosperity, for in prosperity we forget God.
D. L. Moody
Tag Archives: Christianity
Step By Step
August 6, 2013 
10 Comments
“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!
Are You Carrying A Grudge?
July 30, 2013 8 Comments
To carry a grudge is like being stung to death by one wasp!
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
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.
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
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.
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”
Experience
July 20, 2013 12 Comments
Experience: that most brutal of teachers. But you learn, my God do you learn. C S Lewis
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.
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!
Flesh V’s Spirit: Which One Is Winning In Your Life?
July 15, 2013 6 Comments
Galatians 5:13-26 (NIV)
Life by the Spirit
You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
Is Your Church Showing Unity?
July 11, 2013 3 Comments
John 17:20-26 (NIV)
Jesus Prays for All Believers
“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
“Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.
“Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I have made you[a] known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”
My Thoughts 💭
How united is your church body?
Unity Is vital for us to carry out God’s will to be one united body. The world is watching us, so lets make known the unity and love of Jesus and show the world that they have a saviour and he loves them.
✞ Music “Everything” by Tim Hughes
July 10, 2013 2 Comments
Its so important to put God in everything! Please don’t fall away and put your little god in a box for maybe one morning a week.
Are Your Fruits Growing?
July 10, 2013 2 Comments
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. – Galatians 5:22-25
Become The Right Person!
July 10, 2013 7 Comments
The first command in Ephesians 5 tells us to be imitators of God by reflecting the way he loves us. Our love for others flows out of our sense of being deeply loved. Instead of constantly looking for the right person, God tells us to become the right person. Instead of looking for love, God tells us to realise that love has already found us! God loves as no one else ever can.
Chip Ingram
Our Gifts Of Service
July 5, 2013 5 Comments
Father, thank you for making me a part of something so precious, so awesome, as the bodily presence of the Lord. Please help each person in our church family to find his or her gifts of service and to use those gifts in ways that touch others with your grace and that bring you glory. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Dead Bones
July 4, 2013 2 Comments
Father, please open my heart! Allow me to see that we’re a vast army of formerly dead bones, brought back to life through forgiveness and the filling of the Holy Spirit.
Help us to stand strong in the Lord and in His mighty power, protected by the full armor of God, taking our stand against the devil’s schemes, in Jesus name, Amen.
There’s No Ceiling To Hope
July 2, 2013 18 Comments
This is a post for all of my sisters & brothers out there who are struggling at the moment. I just wanted to try and inspire you with some of the Songs/Poems i’ve posted on here. Some will have already read them, but its really on my heart to try and help you as you fight with your day to day struggles. Peace be with you.
page links for my Songs/Poems:
- Captivity Of Negativity
- Depression
- Not Afraid To Die
- Rest In Piece
- Shadow of the Beast
- The Prodigal Son
I Hope these songs/poems will reach out to people who can relate to some of the feelings i went through on my Journey! But i want you to know that you are never alone and a new Life of Love, Joy & inner Peace are waiting for you. Check out my “About” page to read a little more about my journey.
It Takes Just A Little…
July 2, 2013 7 Comments
It Takes Just A Little… It takes so little to make us sad, Just a slighting word or a doubting sneer, Just a scornful smile on some lips held dear; And our footsteps lag, though the goal seemed near, And we lose the courage and hope we had- So little it takes to make us sad.
It takes so little to make us glad, Just a cheering clasp of a friendly hand, Just a word from one who can understand; And we finish the task we long had planned, And we lose the doubt and the fear we had- So little it takes to make us glad. ~ Ida Goldsmith Morris
A World We Didn’t Make
July 1, 2013 1 Comment
The Hebrew evening/morning sequence conditions us to the rhythms of grace. We go to sleep, and God begins his work…We wake into a world we didn’t make, into a salvation we didn’t earn.
Eugene Peterson
Praise God
July 1, 2013 13 Comments
My Thoughts 💭
Last night at our evening meeting, Ruth (one of our ministers) led us in an hour of praise and prayer to God. Ruth started with the prayer below and Sarah and I played 8 songs, and in-between the songs Ruth would say a prayer or a reflection which flowed beautifully for the whole hour.
It was deeply moving and I wanted to just share with you this opening prayer.
🙏 Prayer 4 2day!
Praise God for: mountains and oceans, planets and stars
Praise God for big things
Praise God for: seeds and spiders, petals and drops of dew
Praise God for small things
Praise God for: rolling thunder and the crashing waves
Praise God for loud things
Praise God for: a breath of wind and a whispered prayer
Praise God for quiet things
Praise God for: soaring eagles and hairy gorillas
Praise God for strong things
Praise God for: snowflakes and cobwebs – a tiny baby
Praise God for fragile things
Praise God for: the flash of lightening and a humming bird’s wings
Praise God for fast things
Praise God for: the growth of a tree and the erosion of cliffs
Praise God for slow things
Praise God for: the moon, the sun, other worlds
Praise God for far away things
Praise God for: the person sitting next to me, my own heartbeat
Praise God for close-by things
Thank you that though you are so big,
you become small enough to meet us here on earth
though you are so strong, you show your love in gentleness
though you are loud as thunder, you speak to us in the sound of silence.
Thank you that though you could be faster than the speed of light
You choose to walk at our pace and to hold our hand.
Amen
Daily Gift Of 86,400 Seconds
June 29, 2013 12 Comments
God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one of them to say thank you?
Let Love Be Without Hypocrisy
June 29, 2013 0 Comments
Let love be without hypocrisy, Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality.
Romans 12:9-13
He Cannot Make A Worm
June 27, 2013 3 Comments
Man is certainly stark mad; he cannot make a worm, and yet he will be making gods by the dozen.
Michel de Montaigne
A Heart Of Compassion
June 26, 2013 7 Comments
Father, help remove my heart of selfishness, that stops me from caring for the downtrodden, abused, forgotten, and broken.
Please give me a heart of compassion so I can minister to anyone you put my way. In Jesus name,
Amen..
Don’t Love The World’s Ways
June 6, 2013 6 Comments
1 John 2:15-17 (NIV)
15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father[a] is not in them. 16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.
The Message (MSG)
15-17 Don’t love the world’s ways. Don’t love the world’s goods. Love of the world squeezes out love for the Father. Practically everything that goes on in the world—wanting your own way, wanting everything for yourself, wanting to appear important—has nothing to do with the Father. It just isolates you from him. The world and all its wanting, wanting, wanting is on the way out—but whoever does what God wants is set for eternity.
Where You Really Are With The Lord
May 22, 2013 5 Comments
To ascertain where you really are with the Lord, recall what saddened you the past month. Was it the realization that you do not love Jesus enough? That you did not seek his face in prayer often enough? That you did not care for his people enough? Or did you get depressed over a lack of respect, criticism from an authority figure, your finances, a lack of friends, fears about the future, or your bulging waistline? ~ Brennan Manning
To My Body
May 21, 2013 Comments Off on To My Body
You are always dragging me down,‘ said I to my Body. ëDragging you down!’ replied my Body. ‘Well I like that! Who taught me to like tobacco and alcohol? You, of course, with your idiotic adolescent idea of being grown up. My palate loathed both at first: but you would have your way. Who put an end to all those angry and revengeful thoughts last night? Me, of course, by insisting on going to sleep. Who does his best to keep you from talking too much and eating too much by giving you dry throats and headaches and indigestion? Eh?’ ‘And what about sex?’ said I. ‘Yes, what about it?’ retorted the Body. ‘If you and your wretched imagination would leave me alone I’d give you no trouble. That’s Soul all over; you give me orders and then blame me for carrying them out. ~ C. S. Lewis
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