War... and I know who wins!

so often i've complained or heard Christians complain that life is hard and that it always feels like a struggle. having just gone through some major heartache about the Godly man that I love, having my car stolen, having my work contract cancelled and having seen bad things happen to Christian friends of mine, I've realised once again, this is War.

Ephesians 6: 12 says "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." Having just started to ask people to pray for the business I'm in, praying for the deliverance of the one I loved, believing God for miracles, I am suddenly aware that it is War. God has been preparing me for months for this, for war. I had no idea, I had NO idea how hard it could be.

But Jesus' promises still remain: John 16:20 - 24 "I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. In that day you will no longer ask me anything. I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete."

So I will remember that faith is to believe that which we can not see. Faith is knowing that God works everything to the good of His children. He reminds me that it is a war and therefor I have to hold onto Him even more so and pray constantly.

And I believe the closer we move to God the harder the resistance will be. The nearer we get to the end times, the fiercer the battle. Let us prepare ourselves, by wearing the armour of God, by not letting satan have even the slightest hold on us. Let us not forget to remind the world who is God.

And let us unite in battle, with prayers and with faith and with the sword of His word in our hands. This is war... but we know who wins! God is in control.

surrendering...

surrender.... we use the word so often, that one could be forgiven for thinking that it is easy. and then i find that it is not...

and although i love God with all of my heart, i find that i still doubt, still try and hold on, still try and figure it out, still try and adjust and control in some sort of way, even if it is just to keep on praying and feeling a bit frantic, and that my actions and my prayers might somehow persuade God to answer...

and time and again, i fall on my face, i bleed, i cry, i wish things were different, i rebel at what doesn't seem fair or right, i worry, and i sometimes even resent not being able to change things around me.

and it's then, when at last i actually just feel like dying, crawling into a corner and never waking up, that God's gentle Spirit whispers into my secret place, there where just Him and I can go... deep down inside I become aware of this: "Surrender".

surrender your heartaches and your battles and your fears and your doubts and your human thoughts and your cries and your needs, because I say "I am the Way". "I am the Jesus that resurrected people from the dead, I am the Jesus that cried with Mary and Martha about Lazarus, I am the Jesus that calmed the storm." "I am the Father that says cast all your anxiety upon Me, because I care for you, I am the God that has good plans for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you." "Even if a mother could forget her only child, I have not forgotten you, I have your name (and his) engraved in the palm of my hand."

"I have loved your with an everlasting love, I have bought you with the blood of my Son." "I will never leave you nor forsake you".

And in that quiet whisper, i know that i am home and nothing i can ever do will change things, but God can. And it's then that i surrender...

Because that is what LOVE does!

Jesus humbled himself.
He went from commanding angels
To sleeping in the straw.
From holding stars
To clutching Mary's finger.
The palm that held the universe
Took the nail of a soldier.

Why?

Because that is what LOVE does.

Jesus went from being God
to being human too.
From intimate communion with the Trinity
to being forsaken by God.
From having the right to condemn sinners
to dying for them on a cross.

Why?

Because that is what LOVE does.

Jesus went from heavenly thronerooms
to a humble manger.
From angels bowing before him
to shepherds at night.
From loving us always
to loving us more.

Why

Because that is what LOVE does.

The gift of God
The birth of Christ
This is Christmas

This is love... from the God of LOVE.

May you experience the Love, Joy and Peace that Jesus brought into this world, a Love, Joy and Peace that transcends any human understanding, a Love, Joy and Peace that is still relevant, even for you today. All you have to do is to accept it. Right now.... today.

God with us!

It's Jesus' birthday... we could go into a major philosophical discussion on whether this is the real date, on whether we should be celebrating Christmas at all as it started as a pagan ritual. We could debate a whole bunch of things.. but this is not what Christmas is about.

A very dear friend of mine often says, keep it simple. God loved us so much that He sent His only Son to be born as a mere mortal being. I'm sure it wasn't all smooth-sailing. Like any birth there was pain and a baby crying. There was simplicity in where He was born. There was no doctors to help with painkillers or the delivery. There wasn't a host of angels to smooth the birth.

But there was joy on earth, where a host of angels told the shepherds about this amazing thing. There was PEACE! as God fulfilled His promises... as He always does. There was hope for a world that had become numbed in its hopelessness.

There was amazement by the world's wisest. The star that they followed across the evening sky moved in the opposite direction to what was a natural law.

That day when Jesus was born, to start His journey on earth, God came to be with us, Emmanuel. God came to make a way back to Him. God loved us that much, that He left His throneroom, and became man. Both Human and Divine.

What a glorious day! He was the fulfillment of all promises. I will never leave you nor forsake you. I will provide your every need. Nothing can separate you from My love. My burden is light and my yoke soft. I will be with you till the end of time. I will be Your Father and you will be my children.

All we can say is Amen, Amen to that. Come Lord Jesus, Come.

May you be very blessed this Christmas in the notion that God is WITH US!! Glory be to the one and only faithful God.

making time!

how is it that we get so busy so quickly and stop doing that which we really want to and need to do.... how is it that sometimes we can be so committed to spending time with each other, but not with God.... how is it that most of the time we can make time for everything except for spending time with the One who loved us so much that He sent His only Son to die on a cross for us....

it's not that i walk around in utter condemnation all the time, but just sometimes, sometimes i get a glimpse of a Father heart that loooooongs for some time alone with me. it's so easy to become a group visitor, cellgroup, church group, friend circle, couple circle.... and i know God wants that, He wants us to come as a community of believers....

but then i know, that sometimes, just as i long to have some quiet time with the one that i love, God would love to have my undivided attention. He doesn't need it, He is God, He doesn't claim it, even though He is God. He doesn't demand or nag or take or force the issue... though as humans, in those times that we need Him, we often throw a tantrum or two until we believe we have His attention.

in a time where we are moving closer to celebrating the birthday of His Son, let's slow down, take stock, sit still long enough to listen and to hear Him. let's forget about the work that is drawing to a close, the Christmas presents that still have to be bought, the food that still needs to be prepared, the letters still to be written.

let's slow down, not so much because we are tired, but because we need God. His voice we need like the seedlings need the rain. His touch we need like the sunflowers need the sun. His will we need like the air that we breath. let's be as disciplined in our relationship as we are in going to gym or meeting that deadline.

God is waiting.... all He wants is for you to be fully focused, waiting upon Him. He longs to spend some time with you, so that He can reveal His glorious love and grace and kindness in a new way. Now is the time to seek His face.%0