Your strength – or His Power?

Eph 3:16-17 'I pray that from His glorious, unlimited resources, He will empower you with inner strength through His Spirit.'

Being strong, independent, self-sufficient, are all characteristics that present day society applauds. Successful business people are lauded for being "self-made" men and women. The focus is always on financial success or super-stardom, never on the person's true character or moral values. In fact, if they do tend to be people with questionable morals and the personality of a villain, it is viewed with amusement or admiration. How the person achieved their success is also very often overlooked, particularly if their methods were unscrupulous and dishonest.

So why do we all strive to be what society wants us to be? God has created us with limitations and weaknesses for a reason. It is through our limitations, our inability to be "superman" that God's amazing power will shine through. This will give Him the glory, and not us. People will realize that if God can use someone as limited as we are, then He can use them to. Through our limitations we learn to depend on God and trust Him for the things that we, on our own, cannot do. This strengthens our love for Him and deepens our relationship with Him.

Consider how puny man is up against the forces of Nature – who can deflect a tornado, stop an earthquake or put out the fires of a volcano? Not one of us, and yet, God created all of these things! Shouldn't the very power and wonder of the world around us make us realize that He is far more powerful than us, but that since He loves us so completely, we can trust Him to give us His strength in troubled times.




 

Worry is like a Rocking Chair….

Matt 6:34 'Don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today's trouble is enough for today.'

I don't know what it is about this time of year, but it seems that just when we should be winding down and getting ready for the end of year festivities, people seem to be hit by all kinds of difficulties. My mother has been told that she is going to have to have a knee replacement operation; a friend has just discovered a growth on his kidneys, another has just found out that their new-born baby nephew is very ill, and the list goes on. However, the more I've thought and prayed about it, it really isn't the time of year, it's life! We all have constant challenges to face, difficulties that often seem insurmountable, but in reality, there is no problem too big for God.

God made us weak so that we could learn to depend on Him. He is our strength, if we allow Him to be. He made our lives short so that we could yearn for eternity. He gave us the ability to love, laugh and cry so that we could give our hearts to Him and show others the joy of knowing Him.

No matter what you are facing, ill-health, broken relationships, financial difficulties, just lay it all at His feet and trust that He knows what is best for you. It may be that through your financial struggles your direction in life changes so that God can use you more effectively. Perhaps through your ill-health you learn to slow down and spend time with your Saviour. I personally found that being bed-ridden for a while gave me ample time to pray for others.

To complete the phrase that I used to as this post's title: Worry is like a rocking chair ….. it gives you something to do but it doesn't get you anywhere!! Turn your worried thoughts into prayer – its far more effective!


 

Allowing God to change you!

2 Cor 5:17 'Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone, a new life has begun.'
You are God's work of art – in process! A magnificent masterpiece that He will mould, shape and refine through life's up's and downs to make you the person He want's you to be. To have you reach your fullest potential and be all that you can be in Him!

The thought of God moulding and shaping us can be very upsetting to a lot of people, particularly those who see themselves as 'self-made', independent and strong. The thought that they are in need of change, that they may have to grow emotionally, spiritually and or mentally can be a severe knock to a person's ego and they will so often resist any thought of changing.

On a personal note, I can only tell you that God has, in so many ways, changed me for the better. Certainly, when I gave my life to God I felt that I was a good person, raising my sons on my own, strong-willed, independent and capable. What I was not prepared for was the things that I suddenly saw in my life that I realized were not pleasing to God. My temper for one thing! For such a tiny slip of a person (5'4" and only 58kgs), I was a force to be reckoned with when I got mad!! I remember having fetched all the children from school one day and my step-daughter commenting to me that my road-rage had gone! Then the others all started commenting on how previously I would have screamed at the car that had just cut in front of us, how I wasn't even swearing anymore! Wow!! I hadn't even noticed these things myself, but their comments certainly made me think about my behavior.

I know that the incident I have described above is rather small and inconsequential, and perhaps many of you have had more radical transformations than that, but it was that moment that was the turning point for me. It was this moment that made me realize that God had, already, without me being aware of it, started to transform my heart and, with this knowledge that He could change me without my conscious participation in the process, how much more could He do if I allowed Him to work in my heart?

I must admit that the process of allowing God to change me was not (sorry, IS not) always easy, but it is certainly worthwhile. The changes He has brought about have allowed me to release all my anger and bitterness, to learn to love myself (certainly the hardest battle) and to slowly start seeing that His plans and purposes for my life are far superior to any I may have had. I know that I am still taking baby-steps in my walk with the Lord, and that He still has LOTS of moulding and shaping to do to get me where He wants me to be, but I do know that I can trust Him through the process.

Being Accountable

Jeremiah 23:24 '"Can anyone hide from me in a secret place? Am I not everywhere in all the heavens and earth?" says the Lord.'

When you truly understand that God knows all the secrets hidden in your heart, and yet loves you anyway, you will find that your desire to do things that are pleasing to Him will increase. Having God as your main accountability partner will help prevent you from doing things that you may later regret. However, it is also important that we make ourselves accountable to others as well. Temptations are all around us, every single day of our lives, and Satan loves to see us trip over them! None of us are so pure that we do not have to fight temptation and those who think they are above reproach are only fooling themselves.

Making yourself accountable to others forces you to be more responsible in your actions and to avoid giving in to temptations. Millions of dieters throughout the world have found that having an accountability partner has helped them resist breaking their diet and helped them remain focused and motivated with their exercise routine. In the same way, having a friend who can pray for you and with you, and help you to stay focused on living your life to please God, makes all the difference to your spiritual walk. Of course, your accountability partner does not know everything about you and will only know what you confess to, but if they are walking alongside you they will soon get to know you well enough to know when you are hiding something from them!

I personally have grown to find it incredibly comforting to know that God knows everything about me. That He knows what I am going to think, say or do even before I do! The reason that I find this comforting is because it means He cares. Our heavenly Father, who created the infinite Universe, loves me so much that He is concerned with my every thought! And when I make a mistake, get angry and lose my cool, say something I shouldn't, I know that He still loves me.

It takes strength to hold one's self accountable to others and to God. Making yourself vulnerable and admitting to your weaknesses is one of the most difficult things that human's face. We all like to feel that we are strong enough to handle things on our own and yet that is not the way that God has created us. He has created us for community and a certain level of interdependency. That is why we are told that we are all a "part" of the body of Christ! We are not an independent body, fully self-sufficient and not needing others in any way. No, we are all unique with our own particular gifts and abilities that we bring to enrich and strengthen our Church community in order to make it more effective in doing God's work. Who do you hold yourself accountable to?

The Things We Say…!

Luke 6:45 'The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart …. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.'

Every day God presents us with opportunities to impact the lives of others. We do not have to travel to foreign countries to make a difference in this world. We just have to touch the lives of the people that we encounter in our everyday lives. A kind word to a colleague or the lady at the till in the grocery store can impact them more than we may ever know. Often we feel the urge to say something nice to someone but then shyness or the fear of rejection overcomes us and so we say nothing. When we have these urges, it could be God prompting us to do His work and by not doing so we have missed an opportunity to bless someone else.

One of our biggest failings is to let down our 'guard' when we are with the ones that we love most – our families. They often bear the brunt of our unpleasant day as we take our frustrations out on them or allow their actions to annoy us to the extent that we snap out at them in anger. We say things to our families that we would never say to someone else! It is so important for us to remember that they are the ones whose lives we influence the most, particularly our children. However, we are all human, we all have good and bad days and there are times when we will be angry or frustrated. The joy of families is that they know you well enough to know when your behavior is out of character and as a result of things going wrong.

What we say and how we say it is also an indication to others, who may not know us well, of our character. Don't allow anger and frustration to take control and cause you to mistreat someone. Rather let the goodness of your heart make an impact on someone's life today in such a way that they are encouraged and uplifted. Remember that, as a child of God, you are also His representative to the world around you. Let His goodness, love and mercy shine through you today.

God Don’t Make No Junk!

Have you ever felt that you are just not "good enough?" I have that feeling fairly often and it can rob you of your joy for life. It is quite literally a feeling that suffocates you and prevents you from growing emotionally and spiritually. I am convinced that the devil is one hundred percent behind this feeling and uses it to derail you and prevent you from living your life the way God intends you to.

Have you ever been at a function and felt like the outsider, the ugly, frumpy, unwanted one and convinced yourself that your invitation was actually a mistake but that the host is just too polite to say anything? Or looked at your reflection when you're at your most vulnerable and wondered who the freak-show is in the mirror? Oh, and how about this, sat with a group of people and felt like the stupidest person in the room and that everyone is talking above your IQ level?

So how do you combat it? Well, personally, it's one of the hardest things to fight. If you mention it to others then they just brush it off as you being silly, or if you try and convince yourself that you are wrong, you always end up losing the argument! I have found that the only way to deal with this is to remind myself that God has made me in His image; that He created me to be exactly, uniquely, specifically as I am and that it's ok if I don't fit in with societies idea of 'beauty'; in addition He spent years pursuing me because He, the Creator of the Universe, loves me exactly as I am and wants a personal relationship with me! Of course, one additional thing that you can do is tell that pathetic little wimp of a demon to buzz off because you are busy and totally not interested in his stupid ramblings and comments. I personally enjoy doing that as I find it rather empowering!

As hard as it is sometimes, try and remind yourself of some of the following simple truths; you are not what you weigh; it's the size of your heart that draws people to you, not the size of your thighs! You are exactly as God wants you to be, but it's up to you to use all that He gave you to be the best you can be – you cannot be anybody else and if you were, well then who would they be? Other people can only put you down if you let them! Don't make excuses for who you are, make the most of who you are!

If anyone has any pearls of wisdom to add, please write them in the comment box.

Satan Tempts – God Tests – Do you know the difference?

 

How often do you hear people say "God is tempting me?" Quite honestly it drives me crazy because they don't seem to realize that God will never tempt us to sin. That is, after all, what temptation is. Satan will always tempt us, it is his plan to de-rail us from our walk with God, to cause us to sin and consequently feel ashamed, guilty, unworthy, anything that will make us turn our backs on God. Temptation comes in many different forms. We are all familiar with the well known ones of lust, adultery, pornography, addictions like alcohol and gambling, but there are far more subtle temptations that we have to resist. For example, to spend your tithe money on a new gadget or handbag, to spend hours playing games on the computer when you could be spending some of that time in prayer or reading your Bible. To find other "important" things to do when the Church calls for volunteers to help feed the poor, etc., etc. I am sure that everyone of you reading this can come up with some secret "pleasure" that you have that takes your attention away from God and fritters your time away on some useless pursuit.

God however, will test us. In the same way that a motor vehicle is tested for safety, endurance, reliability, so God will put us through various tests in life. The tests that God gives us may include hardships, persecution and suffering. The testing that God puts us through will refine us, strengthen us and draw us ever closer to Him. There are so many examples in the Bible of how God tested people, Job, of course being the most well known one. Put yourself in Job's shoes for a minute; would you have reacted to God's tests as he did? Or would you turn your back on God, not trusting Him with the bigger picture of your life.

We have to understand that our problems and trials are the testing ground for how God is going to use us, throughout our lives, to advance His Kingdom. We are being molded and shaped by the master potter, however, unlike clay, we have a choice as to how we are going to react to that molding and shaping. Just as a lump of clay does not know what it is going to be shaped into, but through being malleable and workable the Potter is able to turn it into a work of art that is both functional and beautiful, so we do not know what God is shaping us for. That is where faith comes in, and when we have faith we are able to be obedient and when we are obedient God uses us in amazing, life fulfilling ways that will be rewarded for all eternity.