All things work together for good..

Pursue righteousness

2 Timothy 2:22 

“Flee the evil desires of youth,

 and pursue righteousness, 

faith, love and peace,

 along with those who call on the Lord 

out of a pure heart”

Being christlike...

A.W. Tozer

In my Father's house, Corrie ten Boom

Two weeks ago, I ordered that book, In My Father's house written by Corrie ten Boom on Amazon and it came a few days ago. I was over the moon because I knew it was going to be a great read. And it is! 

Be encouraged!

My God shall supply

all your need

according to his riches

in Glory 

by Christ Jesus

Philippians 4:19

Fixing our eyes on Jesus

Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Hebrews 12:2

Fixing our eyes on Jesus, our beautiful Saviour who died for us,  is something that I should do all the time. I'd like to say, yes I do that Time after time, I wish I had fixed my eyes on Jesus, our saviour full of compassion and gentleness and also our King. So why not?

1 - I get distracted. When an annoying situation arises, instead of giving the burden to my Lord straight away, I try to sort it out myself on my own efforts..needless to say that it does not take long to realise that it is not working and none of it will be sorted. In fact, time after time, the Lord has shown me that it's only when I quit and i ask him to help me that the mountain disappears, for His glory. Just like that, yes but let us not forget the timing! In the Lord 's timing!

This takes us to number 2.

I forget about the timing. Essential, crucial. The Lord's timing is not ours. Why? well because we are not living in our final Kingdom. Though we are heirs with Christ, we are still in the world. 

3 A question of faith. Have you noticed that on some matters, we do not have any doubt, whereas on others, we are not sure at all. At the same time, someone in your family or among your friends will feel very different about the same matter. Their faith will be stronger than ours. Why? They believe what they read in the Word of God, they take it in their hearts and it's theirs forever. Not only that, they share it with us. It is so encouraging to meet godly people like that. You can tell they are on the rock. What they say does not move and they can explain it to you. When they say, the Lord is moving in this area of my life or in this town, you believe them. The Lord is at work in your life. Do you know it? Are you aware that the Lord is moving people, He is transforming others and all you have to do is to respond.

If you were in the valley of shadows, wake up, look forward, the time is coming when beautiful things are going to happen in your life, in all areas of your life. Trust in Jesus, the author and finisher of your faith. 

Have a blessed week-end in Jesus-Christ Amen.

Be joyful!

Romans 12:12. 

Be joyful

Because you have hope.

Be patient

When trouble comes

and

Pray at all times

The apostle Paul reminds us that the one reason to be joyful is because we have hope as through Jesus-Christ we have peace with God (being justified by faith Romans 5:1). Somehow, life brings trials and tribulations of all sort whether they affect us personally or our beloved ones, including our dearest friends. How can we be joyful then! Well, trials refine us for the better. Comes to mind theses verses in Zecharia 13: This third I will put into the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on my name and I will answer them; I will say, 'They are my people,' and they will say, 'The LORD is our God.'" 

What should we do when we are tested ? 
Grumble? certainly not (I fail the test miserably then).
Be patient! Waiting on the Lord who knows what's best for us is advisable. This is hard enough to do! It takes time to accept a situation that you don't like and/or you don't understand. If this situation is self-inflicted, you may feel even worse. 

The prophet Isaiah 40:31 reminds us of a distinct advantage if we follow this advice!
But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

Ultimately, talking to our Father in heaven (praying) who listens to our cries is the answer!Notice the phrase 'at all times' not just we are hit by unfortunate circumstances or various troubles, but when we sail by fair weather! Knowing that God loves us and is watching us, we experience complete peace and we rely on Him fully. 

An amazing week!

Dear friends, I hope that your week went well. What did you do?

I have spent most of my amazing week doing those:

- getting up early, not fun! It would be fun if I went to bed earlyish but as don't, I feel exhausted...still I love going to work and I can drive to Leek now without the satnav! 

- reading the Bible, this is a joyful time. I have also been pondering about memorising verses better  and as I was talking to my friend Lilly, she mentioned the 'writing' and 'reading' method. I almost dismissed it to start with because I have done that for a while and I am not sure it works. Then thinking about it again, I realise the time I spend on a passage is not repetitive enough, what i mean, is that instead of reading a passage on Monday and moving on, I decided that I am going to spend two or three days on the same passage i.e. last week, I practised on Galatians 5 and this week I am reading Luke 6..guess what? it works! 

- meeting up with my friends on the days I'm not working; that's great and I feel so blessed

- having great fellowship at Milwich village hall for another session of the Pilgrim course. 

-  baking brownies, I managed to do one lot following a recipe without butter or oil, replacing them by low-fat yoghurt (only 6% fat) and they came out nice and gooey. Let me know if you want the recipe! 

- looking after our rabbits, mainly stopping them from visiting the neighbours' garden hopping through a protected hedge! It's hard work, the minute you fill up a gap, they find another one!

-  listening to worship music on my YouTube channel and you may want to subscribe to my channel! 

- I've just added a Po.st sharing button on the right side of this blog. It was not too difficult! Sharing the good news using sharing buttons..

A prayer now, Abba father, thank you for the many blessings this week your pour on our lives lavishly. Though we don't deserve any by our own merit, you surround us with your tender love and you look after us day by day. When we fail, we cry out to you and you hear us and pick us up because you are full of compassion. We ask you to bless us and to protect us as well as our family and friends in the powerful name of Jesus, our saviour and redeemer. Amen.

Have a blessed week-end and good night. 

They will still bear fruit in old age!!

Psalm 92:12-15

12 The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon;

13 planted in the house of the LORD, they will flourish in the courts of our God.

14 They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green, 15 proclaiming, "The LORD is upright; he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him."

How many promises can you count in these verses? Unlike men and women who promise and don't deliver, our Father in heaven keeps his promises. 

Butterfly story

A man found a cocoon of a butterfly. One day a small opening appeared. He sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could, and it could go no further.

So the man decided to help the butterfly. He took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly then emerged easily. But it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings.

The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time.

Neither happened! In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings. It never was able to fly.

What the man, in his kindness and haste, did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening were God's way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon.

~ Unknown

Like the butterfly, our struggles are exactly what God knows we need in our life. There are heartbreaking and tough times we face that God wants us to go through in order to change us into the person He wants us to be. As Christians, the struggles we go though are a part of God's journey for us, so we need to learn to rest in His promise to never forsake us (Hebrews 13:5) as He works everything around for our good (Romans 8:28). He's preparing us for what awaits - He's preparing us to fly.

Source:  thank you Dot