We are not necessarily doubting that God will do the best for us; we are wondering how painful the best will turn out to be.
C. S. Lewis
Tag Archives: God
Your Essential Worship
November 25, 2013 
4 Comments
Romans 12:1-2 The 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. Do not allow this world to mold you in its own image. Instead, be transformed from the inside out by renewing your mind. As a result, you will be able to discern what God wills and whatever God finds good, pleasing, and complete.
Paul urges those who read and hear his letter to respond to the good news by offering their bodies—eyes, ears, mouths, hands, feet—to God as a “living sacrifice.” Paul knows well enough that sacrifices end in death, not life. But the sacrifice of Jesus changes everything. His resurrection steals life from death and makes it possible for those who trust in Him to become a sacrifice and yet live. But how do we live? We do not live as before, wrapping ourselves in the world and its bankrupt values. We live in constant renewal and transformation of our minds.
Update #1 On ‘Join Me In Prayer For Sarah’
November 16, 2013 18 Comments
Riding The Wave Of Prayers
First i have to thank all of you amazing loving people for the show of extravagant love to me and Sarah. We’ve been simply overwhelmed with your prayers, kindness and love through this journey.
The Plan…
The plan was set. Go to the chemist to get pain killers (Sarah is not allowed d to leave the house for a few days), nip into the doctors to sort out a sick note for the next two weeks, then go for a [Cortado’ coffee at Costa at the train station with half an hour to enjoy our new fave coffee (mainly keep Sarah as relaxed as possible), then Sarah can put her last eye drops in before we catch the 11:04 train that will get us to Kings College Hospital, Denmark Hill, London ready for the operation.
The Hypo…
This was all going well up until Sarah had locked herself in the toilet by passing out with a hypo. The idea was that she went in to put in her eye drops as we still had 15 minutes until the train arrives (the platform is about 1 minute away from the coffee shop. As i was stood outside the door while staff kept walking past suspicious of the weird man lurking around the toilets. With 5 minutes left i knocked on the door, with the sound of the music and the coffee machines i could just make out what i thought was Sarah. Then as i realised too much time had passed and we’d missed our train i asked one of the passing staff if they could open the door as i think my wife is having a hypo. Sarah had know her blood was creeping down and she had a biscuit and sugar in her coffee but she felt and seemed ok.
I opened the door to find Sarah in a zombie like state (the only description i can find that closely resembles a hypo) not knowing where she was, what she was doing or where we were going! I’d like to state at this point that we only really had one must do for this morning, and that was to try and keep Sarah’s blood sugar stable as they won’t operate if it’s too high, low or on the move. I prayed:
“Jesus, There is no way they can operate now, i did my best but i don’t know if there’s another train, if Sarah can even stand up, never mind walk, and Sarah’s blood sugar always ends up too high after a hypo and we always have a long struggle getting it back down. i hand it all to you, please help”.
I got Sarah to her feet and she could just about stand up without her knees giving way. We managed to leave the coffee shop and after catching Sarah from behind as she started to fall back down the platform steps (i was behind trying to push her up) we finally got to the platform. This is where Sarah normally guides me as she knows the trains. Usually the trains are announced, but today there were none, but a train arrived straight away and we got on anyway. I told Sarah to just sleep on my shoulder and hope that this train is going the right way! The inside train announcement only said which station it was pulling up to and not the stations of the full journey.
Sarah woke and asked “where are we?” “I’m not sure, but i hope it stops at Clapham Junction”. Then a few minutes later we arrived at Clapham Junction. We then walked to the other platform and a train was waiting there too. We finally arrived at the day surgery unit a couple of minutes before the 12:30 appointment.
Sarah did a blood test and it was 8.6 which is really good for her, but we knew that it often goes into the 20’s after a hypo and there’s no way they’ll operate if it goes any higher or continues to rise. Sarah went in around 13:00 but there were 4 people before her, I stayed in the waiting room.
The Waiting Room
I wanted to update everyone but i’d never used the mobile WordPress app to post before, so i kept the post “Praying in waiting room for Sarah” short so i could begin praying. I started with my voiceover reading all of your prayers, i prayed through each comment individually about 2 times each from the 1st post “Please Join Me In Prayer For Sarah” then i had about an hour of personal prayer before loving sister Janet would arrive to drive us home.
The Operation
Sarah’s op happened around 16:30, her blood sugar stayed perfectly stable at 6.8 the whole time! (Amazing!) Her main worry was the really painful needle that she sees going into her eye and it feels like her eyeball is bursting out of her face! I need to quote Sarah at this point:
“I felt a real peace i’d not felt before, i knew everyone was praying for me and i knew God was with me the whole time. I felt no pain at all with the needle and the surgeon was surprised how well the operation went. I also heard him say:
‘There are always bubbles in this (not sure what he was talking about) always bubbles, but there aren’t any at all, i can’t explain it?!’
The Next Morning
I’m typing this post Saturday morning at 11am while Sarah is sleeping. I’d like to thank you all once again for giving time in prayer and the loving encouraging comments that helped us through this amazing journey (and still help us as we read back through them). I’ll update again soon.
Sarah said to me this morning:
I felt like the whole day you had your arms around me, and God had his arms around both of us!
Through The Eyes Of A Dog
November 14, 2013 11 Comments
“God, make me the person my dog thinks I am.”
Church sign
Crafted By Human Hands
November 13, 2013 8 Comments
Psalm 115:1-8 The Voice
Not for us, O Eternal One; this glory is not for us—but for Your name
because of Your loyal love and truth.
Why should the nations ask,
“Where is their God now?”
Our God is in heaven
doing whatever He chooses.
Those nations worship idols of silver and gold,
crafted by human hands:
They have given their gods mouths, but they cannot speak;
eyes, but they cannot see.
They have provided their idols with ears, but they cannot hear;
noses, but they cannot smell.
They have fashioned hands, but the idols cannot reach out and touch;
feet, but they cannot walk.
Their idols cannot make a sound in their finely crafted throats.
The people who make idols will become useless like them,
like all who trust in idols.
Through The Eyes Of God
November 10, 2013 11 Comments
The army of Israel looked at Goliath through the eyes of man and said he’s too big to beat. David looked at him through the eyes of God and said he’s too big to miss.
Wally Carter
Nothing Transcends The Power Of God
November 5, 2013 1 Comment
Nothing transcends the power of God. Whether our difficulty is from Satan, others, self-inflicted, or experienced in the process of our obedience, it is God’s prerogative to rearrange, reconstruct, reinterpret, and realign the situation to bring glory and praise to His name.
Joseph Stowell
Spiritual Family
November 1, 2013 15 Comments
1 John 5:1-6 The Voice
It’s easy to say “I love God,” but genuine love reflects God’s love. If we belong to God, then we will love each other regardless of how hard love is.
Everyone who trusts Jesus as the long-awaited Anointed One is a child of God, and everyone who loves the Father cannot help but love the child fathered by Him. Then how do we know if we truly love God’s children? We love them if we love God and keep His commands. You see, to love God means that we keep His commands, and His commands don’t weigh us down. Everything that has been fathered by God overcomes the corrupt world. This is the victory that has conquered the world: our faith.
Who is the person conquering the world? It is the one who truly trusts that Jesus is the Son of God, that Jesus the Anointed is the One who came by water and blood—not by the water only, but by the water and the blood.
Just as we do not get to choose our biological brothers and sisters, we do not get to choose our spiritual brothers and sisters either. But what comes along with loving the Father is loving all His other children—even the really annoying ones! While it might seem to be easier to go off and live in isolation rather than put up with those we are not naturally attracted to, there are responsibilities that come with living in a spiritual family. We reflect our worship of God by living in respect with our Christian brothers and sisters. How we treat the people around us on a daily basis is the real test of our love for God.
Grass & Flowers
October 31, 2013 0 Comments
The Lord’s goodness surrounds us at every moment. I walk through it almost with difficulty, as through thick grass and flowers.
R. W. Barbour
✞ Music “Not For A Moment” by Meredith Andrews
October 31, 2013 7 Comments
Thanks to Spannerr for recommending this song to me!
Habits Of The Soul
October 31, 2013 3 Comments
Very often what God first helps us towards is not the virtue itself but just this power of always trying again. For however important chastity (or courage, or truthfulness, or any other virtue) may be, this process trains us in habits of the soul which are more important still.
C. S. Lewis
The Means To New Life For Others
October 27, 2013 10 Comments
2 Corinthians 4:1-12 The Voice
Drawing from Exodus 32–34, Paul uses Moses as a model of one who has been transformed by God’s glory, but in a limited way. Moses encountered God (the Lord) through the Spirit on that mountain, but the Spirit now—as a fulfillment of the new covenant—dwells in the hearts of believers and continually transforms them. This transformation is based on a new way of understanding God’s revelation: Jesus Himself, the One who reveals God’s glory, is the very image of God. Through this Spirit-enabled encounter, believers experience a new way of living and therefore come to resemble the Anointed One as they reflect His glory.
Since we are joined together in this ministry as a result of the mercy shown to all of us by God, we do not become discouraged. Instead, we have renounced all the things that hide in shame; we refuse to live deceptively or use trickery; we do not pollute God’s Word with any other agenda. Instead, we aim to tell the truth plainly, appealing to the conscience of every person under God’s watchful eye. Now if our gospel remains veiled, it is only veiled from those who are lost and dying, because the evil god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers. As a result the light of the good news, the radiant glory of the Anointed—who is the very image of God—cannot shine down on them. We do not preach about ourselves. The subject of all our sermons is Jesus, the Anointed One. He is Lord and Master of all. For Jesus’ sake we are here to serve you. The God who spoke light into existence, saying, “Let light shine from the darkness,”[a] is the very One who sets our hearts ablaze to shed light on the knowledge of God’s glory revealed in the face of Jesus, the Anointed One.
But this beautiful treasure is contained in us—cracked pots made of earth and clay—so that the transcendent character of this power will be clearly seen as coming from God and not from us. We are cracked and chipped from our afflictions on all sides, but we are not crushed by them. We are bewildered at times, but we do not give in to despair. We are persecuted, but we have not been abandoned. We have been knocked down, but we are not destroyed. We always carry around in our bodies the reality of the brutal death and suffering of Jesus. As a result, His resurrection life rises and reveals its wondrous power in our bodies as well. For while we live, we are constantly handed over to death on account of Jesus so that His life may be revealed even in our mortal bodies of flesh. So death is constantly at work in us, but life is working in you.
Jesus’ death is the means to new life for others. Similarly when believers suffer for others as Jesus did, their suffering is an avenue for God’s life to transform situations.
Love Letters
October 25, 2013 10 Comments
We are all pencils in the hand of a writing God, who is sending love letters to the world.
Mother Teresa
Hold On!
October 23, 2013 0 Comments
Courage comes and goes. Hold on for the next supply.
Thomas Merton
How Great Is The Contrast?
October 19, 2013 8 Comments
How great is the contrast between that forgiveness to which we lay claim from God towards us, and our temper towards others! God, we expect, will forgive us great offences, offences many times repeated; and will forgive them freely, liberally, and from the heart. But we are offended at our neighbor, perhaps, for the merest trifles, and for an injury only once offered; and we are but half reconciled when we deem to forgive. Even an uncertain humor, an ambiguous word, or a suspected look, will inflame our anger; and hardly any persuasion will induce us for a long time to relent.
Henry W. Thornton
✞ Music “Hunger Games” by Da Truth
October 17, 2013 1 Comment
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETmv3UbzT7s
One for the Hip Hop fans! 🙂
The Honest Seeker
October 16, 2013 2 Comments
Mark it down. God never turns away the honest seeker. Go to God with your questions. You may not find all the answers, but in finding God, you known the One who does.
Max Lucado
Above All, Put On Love
October 16, 2013 2 Comments
Colossians 3:12-17 (VOICE)
Paul tells them the key to remain unified is to show compassion and forgiveness toward one another.
Since you are all set apart by God, made holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with a holy way of life: compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Put up with one another. Forgive. Pardon any offenses against one another, as the Lord has pardoned you, because you should act in kind. But above all these, put on love! Love is the perfect tie to bind these together. Let your hearts fall under the rule of the Anointed’s peace (the peace you were called to as one body), and be thankful.
Let the word of the Anointed One richly inhabit your lives. With all wisdom teach, counsel, and instruct one another. Sing the psalms, compose hymns and songs inspired by the Spirit, and keep on singing—sing to God from hearts full and spilling over with thankfulness. Surely, no matter what you are doing (speaking, writing, or working), do it all in the name of Jesus our Master, sending thanks through Him to God our Father.
For Paul it isn’t enough just to believe the right things. Right belief always produces right living. The gift of salvation demands that we put into practice the character of our King. Just as we take off and throw away old, worn-out clothes, we must strip off certain attitudes and actions of our old selves. Since our lives have been made new in Him, things like sexual immorality, greed, anger, lies, and the rest must find no place in us. But it is not enough to strip off the old; we must put on the new. And that new creation has many qualities of Jesus: compassion, gentleness, and humility; putting up with each other, forgiving each other, and above all, loving each other. These are the ways of Jesus, so they must be our ways too.
“I am loved”
October 14, 2013 18 Comments
My Thoughts 💭
Last night during the evening service at our church, Nik our Minister read the following and asked us to discuss which one from the bullet list really stood out to us, and why?:
“I am loved”
‘but what does this mean to you?‘
• The whole of me my body, mind heart and soul, that is my strength, my thoughts my deepest longings and all my emotions are loved by God.
• God knows me AND loves me (not God knows me but loves me)
• I am loved for who I am. Completely, Utterly, For Ever.
• Others may dislike me, but God loves me
• I may hate myself, but God continues to love me
• He loves me for what I am and what I will be.
• He loves me because he understands me.
it was really interesting hearing the different answers from the diverse brothers and sisters in our congragation.
So I wondered if you could comment with your answers/thoughts to the same question above?
✞ Music “One Thing Remains” by Passion
October 14, 2013 4 Comments
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EHw-92ntXQ
Be encouraged, and never forget that you are always loved! 🙂
Because Of God’s Grace
October 14, 2013 4 Comments
Because of God’s grace, there is nothing we can do that will make Him love us more than He already does. And there is nothing we can do or have done that will cause Him to love us any less.
Steven Curtis Chapman
keeping The Sabbath Day Holy
October 13, 2013 3 Comments
Oh, what a blessing is Sunday, interposed between the waves of worldly business like the divine path of the Israelites through Jordan! There is nothing in which I would advise you to be more strictly conscientious than in keeping the Sabbath day holy.
William Wilberforce
God Has Qualified You
October 11, 2013 5 Comments
Colossians 1:12-22 (NIV)
and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
The Supremacy of the Son of God
The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behaviour. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation
God Has No History
October 7, 2013 2 Comments
This human life in God is from our point of view a particular period in the history of our world (from His birth to His crucifixion). We therefore imagine it is also a period in the history of God’s own existence. But God has no history. He is too completely and utterly real to have one. For, of course, to have a history means losing part of your reality (because it has already slipped away into the past), and not yet having another part (because it is still in the future); in fact, having nothing but the tiny little present, which has gone before you can speak about it. God forbid we should think God was like that! Even we may hope not to be always rationed in that way.
C. S. Lewis
Spirit Levelling
October 4, 2013 2 Comments
My Thoughts 💭
Travelling back home on the train this morning, I was showing Sarah the new (but hidden) spirit level on iOS 7 on my iPhone (to get to it, just open the compass app and then swipe from right to left with one finger to reveal). As I was tilting my phone up and down and showing that when the surface is level the whole screen goes green, suddenly I had the thought….
This is the same with our spiritual lives. How balanced/instep am I with the Spirit that dwells within?!
Are you instep with the Spirit?
Galatians 5:25 (NIV)
Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
More Thoughts 💭
At or around harvest time I like to think about my life and how much its changed from the fruitless dead tree and how God is healing me by his Love and Grace by trying to grow the fruits for his glory. I need to keep my roots deep in him and be in step with the Spirit so I don’t just wither and die.
Give Us Grace
September 23, 2013 3 Comments
God, give us grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, courage to change the things which should be changed, and the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other.
Reinhold Niebuhr
God Is With Me
September 14, 2013 6 Comments
One of the most powerful concepts, one which is a sure cure for lack of confidence, is the thought that God is with you and helping you. This is one of the simplest teachings in religion, namely, that Almighty God will be your companion, will stand by you, help you, and see you through. No other idea is so powerful in developing self-confidence as this simple belief when practiced. To practice it simply affirm “God is with me; God is helping me; God is guiding me.” Spend several minutes each day visualizing his presence. Then practice believing that affirmation.
Norman Vincent Peale
What Other People Think
September 13, 2013 4 Comments
What other people think of me is becoming less and less important; what they think of Jesus because of me is critical.
Cliff Richard
Praise The One Who Gives Us Life
September 12, 2013 1 Comment
Psalm 66:9 (VOICE)
Praise the One who gives us life and keeps us safe, who does not allow us to stumble in the darkness.
When Temptation Comes
September 1, 2013 2 Comments
Loving Father, please help me to say the right words of love and affection to those whom I love so that when temptation comes, or when others try to draw them away from me, they will not doubt my love for them. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
Great Tranquility Of Heart
September 1, 2013 10 Comments
He has great tranquility of heart who cares neither for the praises nor the fault-finding of men. He will easily be content and pacified, whose conscience is pure. You are not holier if you are praised, nor the more worthless if you are found fault with.
Thomas Kempis
A Mass Of Dancing Dirt
August 31, 2013 2 Comments
Only as man brings his life into harmony with God does that life have balance and meaning. Then man finds that he is not simply a mass of dancing dirt, coming from nowhere and going nowhere.
Henry Schmidt
Just Wait In His Presence
August 27, 2013 12 Comments
The whole duty and blessedness of waiting on God has its root in this, that He is such a blessed Being, full, to overflowing, of goodness and power and life and joy, that we, however wretched, cannot for any time come into contact with Him, without that life and power secretly, silently, beginning to enter into us and blessing us. God is Love! God’s love is just His delight to impart Himself and His blessedness to His children. Come, and however feeble you feel, just wait in His presence. As a feeble invalid is brought out into the sunshine to let its warmth go through him, come with all that is dark and cold in you into the sunshine of God’s holy, omnipotent love, and sit and wait there, with the one thought: Here I am, in the sunshine of His love. As the sun does its work in the weak one who seeks its rays, God will do His work in you.
Andrew Murray
Do Not Trust Every Spirit
August 22, 2013 9 Comments
1 John 4:1-6 (VOICE)
My loved ones, I warn you: do not trust every spirit. Instead, examine them carefully to determine if they come from God, because the corrupt world is filled with the voices of many false prophets. Here is how you know God’s Spirit: if a spirit affirms the truth that Jesus the Anointed, our Liberating King, has come in human flesh, then that spirit is from God. If a spirit does not affirm the true nature of Jesus the Anointed, then that spirit does not come from God and is, in fact, the spirit of the antiChrist.[a] You have heard about its coming; in fact it is already active in the world. My children, you have come from God and have conquered these spirits because the One who lives within you is greater than the one in this world. But they are of this world, and they articulate the views of the corrupt world, which the world understands. We come from God, and those who know God hear us. Whoever is not from God will not listen to us. This is the way we discern the difference between the spirit of truth and the spirit of deception.
How can the words of prophets be tested to discover the truth? The most important question is whether they acknowledge that Jesus is fully God and fully human. In the first century, many people were so convinced that this material world was corrupt and evil that they couldn’t imagine how a perfect God could wrap Himself in imperfect skin. Many today still function as if the physical world is a bad thing; this understanding is demonstrated when they downplay the hope of bodily resurrection and emphasize the heavenly destination of souls. Implicitly, this belittles Jesus’ own incarnation and resurrection.
On the other hand, many people accept Jesus’ humanity but deny His divinity. He may have been a great teacher, they say, but certainly not the incarnation of God. However, Jesus made bold claims about who He was and what He came to do. These are not the things a great teacher would have said or done if they had not been true. It is fair to say that no other life has drawn so much scrutiny, and no other life has ever elicited such praise.
God Bursts Through
August 21, 2013 9 Comments
Nature is too thin a screen; the glory of the omnipresent God bursts through everywhere.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
✞ Music “Run Down The Devil” by Alice Cooper
August 17, 2013 2 Comments
Walk Wisely
August 16, 2013 8 Comments
Ephesians 5:15-20 (VOICE)
So be careful how you live; be mindful of your steps. Don’t run around like idiots as the rest of the world does. Instead, walk as the wise! Make the most of every living and breathing moment because these are evil times. So understand and be confident in God’s will, and don’t live thoughtlessly. Don’t drink wine excessively. The drunken path is a reckless path. It leads nowhere. Instead, let God fill you with the Holy Spirit. When you are filled with the Spirit, you are empowered to speak to each other in the soulful words of pious songs, hymns, and spiritual songs; to sing and make music with your hearts attuned to God; and to give thanks to God the Father every day through the name of our Lord Jesus the Anointed for all He has done.
Wisdom is a rare commodity. Paul urges believers, then and now, to walk wisely. It involves living well every day. Time itself seems to be co-opted by dark forces. But when believers understand God’s will, avoid drunkenness, and allow God to fill them with His Spirit, they are able to walk wisely and live well. The Spirit-filled life is not just for a special few; it is the normal Christian life, and it affects everything, including how we live in community and how we treat others at home.
Marriage Is A Spiritual Relationship
August 15, 2013 0 Comments
Since marriage is a spiritual relationship involving husband, wife, and God, prayer together keeps communication flowing among all three.
Dennis and Barbara Rainey
Awaken A Slumbering Conscience
August 14, 2013 5 Comments
Proverbs 25:21-22 (VOICE)
If your enemy is hungry, give him something to eat; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink, For your kind treatment will be like heaping hot coals on his head, it may cause a change in heart, and the Eternal will repay you.
Acts of kindness, especially when we know they are undeserved, awaken a slumbering conscience, stimulate sorrow, and perhaps even effect a change. They are the best ways to turn an enemy into a friend.
Are You Leaving Room For Faith?
August 13, 2013 0 Comments
There is no place for faith if we expect God to fulfill immediately what he promises.
John Calvin
For Those Who Love Him
August 11, 2013 6 Comments
Romans 8:28 (NIVUK)
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
Praise To The Sound Of Strings
August 10, 2013 9 Comments
Psalm 92:1-4 (VOICE)
How good it is to give thanks to the Eternal and to praise Your name with song, O Most High; To speak of Your unfailing love in the morning and rehearse Your faithfulness as night begins to fall.
How good it is to praise to the sound of strings—lute and harp—the stirring melodies of the lyre. Because You, O Eternal One, thrill me with the things You have done, I will sing with joy in light of Your deeds.
Don’t Forget God!
August 7, 2013 0 Comments
We can stand affliction better than we can prosperity, for in prosperity we forget God.
D. L. Moody
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.
iChristian 
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