This week God has been dealing with me regarding holding grudges. Now, I didn’t think I was holding any grudges. I thought I was walking in forgiveness. My heart, especially these past 2 years, has been to as quickly forgive as I can, with Gods help. To keep short accounts. To not let any root of bitterness grow up. I would even have gone so far as to have said I never hold grudges! How wrong I was! How self deceived! Thank God He chose to show me in answer to my prayers to be purified
It started this week when I was faced with 3 people in one day who said things that made me think to myself “how sad they are really missing out with that attitude.” Later that night God showed me that it was to with a grudge they had. He also made me realise that in their holding of that grudge they were stopping themselves from receiving truth, receiving from the people / types of people they had a grudge against, and so were blocking a flow of Gods love/ Gods provision for their own lives because there was an avenue they were closed off to.
The next day I was driving to work and started to pray for them and in doing so I asked God to show me if I had any grudges in my heart. I didn’t want anything to block His flow in my life. Straight away I had peoples faces in my mind. Not just one or two but about 10 people! I was shocked, but immediately repented and then forgave and released those people into the freedom of my forgiveness all over again. I had chosen to forgive them a long time ago.
I continued to ask God if there was anyone else I had ever had any grudges against, and during the 45 minute journey he showed me many people over the course of my life, even people I had long forgotten.
I also forgave and released any and all those who had ever had a grudge against me, whether I knew of it or not. God knows.
It was like God was taking out all the little hooks the enemy had embedded in my life.
In fact I found myself praying just that. That every hook the enemy had in my life be unhooked. That God would show me any areas in my life where I had enabled the enemy to embed hooks in my life, so I could repent, forgive and be set free. I even had to repent of holding a grudge about myself! Go figure that! I didn’t know it was possible to hold a grudge against yourself.
God took me on a whole journey of repentance and forgiveness. It was so liberating! And all because I had seen something in someone else! I am so glad I asked God to show me if I had the same in me. I would never have realised or thought about me holding grudges, and so I encourage you to ask God if you have any grudges against anyone so you and He can deal with those things together.
Be blessed and enjoy the journey.
Julie Groves
Sunday, 23 September 2012
Saturday, 8 September 2012
God in a Box
Do you ever say, "God always" or "God never"? There are things which never change, the cross, the blood; God would not say you can come to me outside of Jesus, or "you do not need the blood to cleanse you" but there are many things where we have to allow God to be God. I have heard people say that they almost left a conference of a well respected ministry because the worship was too loud and not to their "taste", inferring that it was not godly.
There are scriptures which say God's voice is like the sound of many waters - if you have been to Niagara falls you will know that the ground shakes with the noise. Heaven is shown as a noisy place, in fact Rev 8.1 mentions silence in heaven as something unusual. We are told that there are voices constantly worshipping, - maybe something isn't how we like it or think it should be but we have to hold our opinions lightly, acknowledging that we do not know everything about God and that we do see through a veil darkly.
Can we, maturely, see one another's failings, damage, areas for growth with humility and respect, being aware that we too have this in our lives. We are on a journey and some may be further down the road but that does not make you superior; in fact anything you believe you know, you have learnt through grace to be used to serve others not look down on them. Remember, all you actions, words, thoughts, heart intentions will be revealed in the end.
Do you get frustrated that others just "don't get it"? Would you look at your frustration? It speaks more of control than a servant heart. If you truly have something from God then He will bring it to pass - sometimes it is our attitude that holds things up. Do we try to impose it on others or humbly ask God how to pray? Do you get discouraged because God hasn't done something you think He should have - healing, supply, change circumstances? God loves you so much that he suffered in a way none of us will ever comprehend to enable us know Him. He wants the best for us at all times and his knowledge and wisdom are far above ours. Look at Him and think about His nature.
This journey is a balance of knowing and trusting God for who He is and also using the authority He has given us as He directs. If we are focusing on “the thing” then we can get deceived, discouraged. We should focus on Him, always praying (turning your head towards the one who can bear the burden), throughout the day having that internal conversation with your friend. Don’t try to put God in a box - He’s too big.
Moya Boardman
There are scriptures which say God's voice is like the sound of many waters - if you have been to Niagara falls you will know that the ground shakes with the noise. Heaven is shown as a noisy place, in fact Rev 8.1 mentions silence in heaven as something unusual. We are told that there are voices constantly worshipping, - maybe something isn't how we like it or think it should be but we have to hold our opinions lightly, acknowledging that we do not know everything about God and that we do see through a veil darkly.
Can we, maturely, see one another's failings, damage, areas for growth with humility and respect, being aware that we too have this in our lives. We are on a journey and some may be further down the road but that does not make you superior; in fact anything you believe you know, you have learnt through grace to be used to serve others not look down on them. Remember, all you actions, words, thoughts, heart intentions will be revealed in the end.
Do you get frustrated that others just "don't get it"? Would you look at your frustration? It speaks more of control than a servant heart. If you truly have something from God then He will bring it to pass - sometimes it is our attitude that holds things up. Do we try to impose it on others or humbly ask God how to pray? Do you get discouraged because God hasn't done something you think He should have - healing, supply, change circumstances? God loves you so much that he suffered in a way none of us will ever comprehend to enable us know Him. He wants the best for us at all times and his knowledge and wisdom are far above ours. Look at Him and think about His nature.
This journey is a balance of knowing and trusting God for who He is and also using the authority He has given us as He directs. If we are focusing on “the thing” then we can get deceived, discouraged. We should focus on Him, always praying (turning your head towards the one who can bear the burden), throughout the day having that internal conversation with your friend. Don’t try to put God in a box - He’s too big.
Moya Boardman
Friday, 7 September 2012
Addicts
We hear this word and think of the homeless person hooked on drink and drugs sitting on the street and begging. For these people a trauma or tragic past event has led to them being ‘frozen’ deep in their emotions. A broken heart. Trapped inside an adult body there is often a child who has been broken and abused.
Can we change....”can a leopard change it’s spots (Jeremiah 13:23). Who will deliver us.
Man cannot raise himself in his despair..........even the Apostle Paul struggled with his desires, see Romans 7. When Jesus first came on the scene He claimed that He was annointed to ...‘free the captives’ and to’bind up the broken hearted’. This is true. Only Jesus can truely restore a man that has been so broken by sin and rejection.
An addict is someone who can’t break a habit or pattern of behaviour. A christian can be full of addictions and do all they can to break them, but only Jesus can truely sever the root of problems deep in the heart, that have gone unchecked for years. The church needs the radical heart change that only truely coming to Jesus, can provide. The Pharisees knew God’s word and tradition and were part of the chosen people of God, yet they failed to find and appreciate the very presence of God Himself.
What an army we would be in this nation if we truely cried out and turned to the very heart of God shown in Jesus.
Daniel Chuter
Monday, 3 September 2012
God alone will get the glory.
In the story of Gideon, Judges chapter 6 and 7. The situation, as often is the case, is that Gideon found himself crying out for help in an occupied land that was tormented by the enemy, in this case the Midianites. This really is a character that we can relate to; fearful and deeply insecure. Very often God choses the most rejected and unlikely people.
In terms of the situation in many cities today, God's people are hiding fearfully from the oppression of the enemy. Within this story Gideon is called in the face of his fear and purely through obedience to God, he overcomes the oppression of the Midianites in the land of Israel.
As if the job didn't require enough, God made sure that He alone would be proved to have won a great victory. If you look at the story you will see how Gideon's army was 'sifted' at the river until the odds in the battle were almost impossible.
Do not rest on your own understanding but trust in the Lord. Jesus alone beat the enemy at the cross. But we are proud. Sometimes we rely more on our own understanding. If God speaks about a way in which to deal with a problem, there will be a reason and purpose.
In this story Gideon approached the Midianites in the valley and was told to break jars and blow trumpets. God will get the glory. Jesus alone won at the cross. This is God's wisdom. Don't look around and listen to everyone else. What was once a way and method of overcoming, isn't necessarily the case now. In this land God is raising up the most unlikely army and will win against all odds.
Daniel Chuter
In terms of the situation in many cities today, God's people are hiding fearfully from the oppression of the enemy. Within this story Gideon is called in the face of his fear and purely through obedience to God, he overcomes the oppression of the Midianites in the land of Israel.
As if the job didn't require enough, God made sure that He alone would be proved to have won a great victory. If you look at the story you will see how Gideon's army was 'sifted' at the river until the odds in the battle were almost impossible.
Do not rest on your own understanding but trust in the Lord. Jesus alone beat the enemy at the cross. But we are proud. Sometimes we rely more on our own understanding. If God speaks about a way in which to deal with a problem, there will be a reason and purpose.
In this story Gideon approached the Midianites in the valley and was told to break jars and blow trumpets. God will get the glory. Jesus alone won at the cross. This is God's wisdom. Don't look around and listen to everyone else. What was once a way and method of overcoming, isn't necessarily the case now. In this land God is raising up the most unlikely army and will win against all odds.
Daniel Chuter
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)