Respect!

 

The above CC0 image comes courtesy of Gerd Altmann at Pixabay.com

 

Q:        What is Five Minute Friday?

A:        It is a 5min free write blog event hosted by Kate Motaung. Every Thursday Kate announces a one-word prompt at 10pm EST. The link-up is open for a full week, until the following Thursday evening. For further details on how to participate click HERE. 

 

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FMF WORD PROMPT: RESPECT

Respect.

I have a lot of time, respect and admiration for those who have walked the Christian path before me successfully. People like my mother. Like Bob Gass (writer of the UCB Devotional*) and my very first pastor and Father in the faith, Archbishop Malachi Ramsay. I have great respect for those who not only talk the talk, but walk the walk!

Respect.

It is earned. Not demanded.

We give respect to one another for various reasons and under various circumstances. However, the fact that certain organisations exist, show that there is a need for people to be forced to give others respect. I refer to organisations such as Black Lives Matter, which exists solely because respect has been withheld from fellow human-beings, simply because of the colour of their skin!

As Christians, do we truly respect one another? And if we say we do, do we only show respect to those who fall within our cultural comfort zones? Do we only respect those whom we like, or are like us?

The Pharisees, Sadducees, priests and scribes did not respect Jesus. They insulted him (he casts out demons by the prince of demons), they plotted against him, and they questioned his pedigree.

[End of 5 mins]

Do you know God shows every single human being on this planet respect? He grants every one the respect to choose. To choose to acknowledge him and live a life that honours and glorifies him, or to go your own way and live your life, as you see fit.

God does not force anyone to serve him. And even when we make that commitment to follow Jesus, to acknowledge and accept God’s magnanimous gift of salvation, he does not force us to obey him. He respects the fact that he has given us a free will and he respects our decision to exercise that free will, in whatever way we choose.

Now the individuals named above (my mother, Bob Gass and Malachi Ramsay) have all passed on from this world but I have no doubt they have entered into glory. Whilst they were here on earth, they respected the gifts and callings God placed upon their lives, they respected the privilege they’d been given as Children of God, and sought to live their best lives, sought to love, encourage and influence those around them. I thank God for their lives. I thank God for their legacies.

But I cannot conclude this post without giving thanks to Jesus. If it were not for him, if it were not for the fact that he chose to despise the cross and endure the shame, if it were not for his choice to leave behind his prestigious position in heaven and come to earth, to suffer a cruel and ignominious death, then my mother, Bob Gass, Malachi Ramsay would not have had the opportunity to be reconciled to God. They would not have had the choice of serving him and blessing the Body of Christ and being an example to those who came within the sphere of their influence.

So today, I pay homage and utmost respect to Jesus, my Lord, my Saviour, my soon-coming King!

 

Son of the Most High God,

You are Heir of all things.

You are King of kings,

Lord of lords,

And the Prince of Peace.

You are Alpha and Omega,

The Beginning and the End –

The First and the Last.

Blessed and only Potentate,

You who dwells in

Unapproachable light,

Receive my humble homage today,

For to you belong all honour,

All glory, and everlasting power.

Amen.

© Carol Hind (an extract from Petitions From My Heart)

Have a blessed weekend!

With love,

Carol (aka Lady Cee)

The effectual, fervent prayer avails much!

 

Are you looking for a resource that will help and encourage you to develop a consistent and confident prayer life? If so, don’t hesitate to check out the links below.

 

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Did you enjoy reading this post? Please share your thoughts in a comment box below. Do you know someone who would benefit from its message? Then please don’t hesitate to share it. Thank you.

 

*Free postal copies of UCB Word For Today (UK and Republic of Ireland only) are available from: FREEPOST RLTX-ABUL-GRAR, United Christian Broadcasters, Westport Road, Stoke-on-Trent, ST6 4JF

For the online version visit: UCB

 

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Prayer Gem 23

 

God awaits you in his throne-room!

With love,

Carol (aka Lady Cee)

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Are you looking for a resource that will help and encourage you to develop a consistent and confident prayer life? If so, don’t hesitate to check out the links below.

 

 

 

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Prayer Gem 22

 

God awaits you in his throne-room!

With love,

Carol (aka Lady Cee)

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Are you looking for a resource that will help and encourage you to develop a consistent and confident prayer life? If so, don’t hesitate to check out the links below.

 

 

 

AMAZON UK https://amzn.to/3ciUt1q

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Prayer Gem 20

 

Have you sent Jesus your knee-mail today?

 

With love,

Carol (aka Lady Cee)

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Are you looking for a resource that will help and encourage you to develop a consistent and confident prayer life? If so, don’t hesitate to check out the links below.

 

AMAZON UK https://amzn.to/3ciUt1q

AMAZON US https://amzn.to/3bj6gM1

 

 

What’s your response to this post? Please share your thoughts in a comment box below and if you know anyone you could bless with its message, don’t hesitate to share it. Thank you.

 

Prayer Gem 19

 

Have you sent Jesus your knee-mail today?

With love,

Carol (aka Lady Cee)

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Are you looking for a resource that will help and encourage you to develop a consistent and confident prayer life? If so, don’t hesitate to check out the links below.

 

AMAZON UK https://amzn.to/3ciUt1q

AMAZON US https://amzn.to/3bj6gM1

 

What’s your response to this post? Please share your thoughts in a comment box below and if you know anyone you could bless with its message, don’t hesitate to share it. Thank you.

 

What’s Your Game Plan?

 

The above CC0 image comes courtesy of Pixabay.com

 

There’s a TV programme I love to watch every now and again. It’s called Come Dine With Me! For those of you unfamiliar with this show, let me explain what it’s all about.

Either a chosen set of individuals, or a few couples, come together for an entire week to compete for a prize of £1000. The idea is for each individual or each couple, to throw a dinner party for the other participants. Afterwards, guests mark each individual or couple, according to how well they performed.

Participants vary in the criteria used to mark fellow competitors. Some base their marks solely on the quality of the meal. Others take into consideration the full experience of the evening (food, ambience, attentiveness of host, and the entertainment).

The majority of competitors are honest and mark according to their perceived experience. Others seem to have a game plan. In other words, no matter how well their fellow competitors have done, they will find a reason to offer a low mark, in a bid to ensure that they come out on top. Usually their strategy works. At other times however, it backfires!

When I first considered my idea for today’s post, the phrase “game plan” came to mind.

What is a game plan?

It’s a pre-determined strategy to win.

So, bearing this in mind, let me ask you dear friend in Christ, when it comes to winning in life, do you have a spiritual game plan?

Let me first explain that by “winning in life” I do not mean trampling on others, or undermining others or mispresenting others, in order to emerge as top dog. Nor do I mean ruthlessly removing other competitors from the game, in order to climb that career ladder or reach your pinnacle of success.

I mean emerging as a victor, regardless of what life throws at you and doing so with integrity.

Now anyone who’s been around for any length of time, will be aware that life is never straightforward. In fact, it can be downright difficult! Things we expect to happen, situations we strive to secure, or ideal scenarios we desire and seek after, often do not happen, or else does not materialise in the way anticipated.

Yet even though we are aware of this, even though we know that as we proceed through life, we can expect challenges or obstacles, we often find ourselves unprepared. We end up riding the circuit of disappointment, discouragement and despair.

Now in our normal every-day-life, we try to prepare for expected events. We check the weather forecast and dress appropriately. Because we’re aware that balanced nutritional meals aid growth and repair of our bodies and minimises our risk to disease, we try to eat sensibly. And because we know which jobs attract a higher salary or enables us to serve others, if opportunity affords, we study and choose our jobs/careers accordingly.

As Christians, we know (or should know) that we have an Enemy.

Well, guess what enemies do.

They oppose us! They seek to undermine us. They do their utmost to discourage us.

Given this reality, are we putting the same kind of forethought and planning into the success of our spiritual progress, as we do with our secular lives? Do we have a game plan for dealing with the Enemy of our soul? Are we spiritually prepared to deal with the setbacks in life when they occur?

Thankfully, we have someone on our side, who is able to cause all things (the good, the bad and the ugly challenges of life), to work together for our benefit and good. But the three members of the Godhead (Father, Son and Holy Spirit), will not barge into our lives uninvited. Jesus himself tells us that he stands at the door of our hearts and knocks.

Women of Warfare friends and followers, prayer should be our game plan. Prayer should be the practical expression of our forethought and considered plan, to emerge from any contrary circumstance, as victorious overcomers. Prayer opens the door to the three members of the Godhead, so they can work their magic in our lives.

So, have you opened the door?

If you are currently walking that treadmill of disappointment, discouragement and defeat, may I offer you some encouragement today?

Don’t allow people, or circumstances, or negative thinking to make you a hopeless victim. Choose to be a faith-filled victor.

Decide. Plan. Then pray.

Live your life as a victorious overcomer!

With much love,

Carol (aka Lady Cee)

Would you like to purchase a resource that could help you prepare for life’s challenges and which enables you to develop a consistent and confident prayer life? If so, don’t hesitate to check out the links below.

  

AMAZON UK – Print: click here; E-book: click here

AMAZON US – Print: click here; E-book: click here

 

Did you find this post helpful? I’d love to hear your thoughts in a comment box below.

Is there someone you know who could benefit from its message? Then please don’t hesitate to share it. Thank you.

 

 

How to Move from Victim to Victor (Part 1)

 

The above CC0 image comes courtesy of Gerd Altmann at Pixabay.com

 

Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one’s definition of your life; define yourself.

Harvey Fierstein

 

Dear friend and follower,

Did you know that regular confession of God’s Word yields desired results – abundant blessings, favour, guidance, protection, success, VICTORY?

This is why Jesus died – to destroy the works of the devil, so we may enjoy a God-glorifying and victorious life. (Luke 1:78-79)

Now, you need to be warned that regular negative confession will also work in reverse. If (for example), you keep saying: I’m such a loser! My life is such a mess! – guess what? You will have exactly what you consistently say. What you confess is what you’ll possess!

So what makes the difference?

Personal choice! You can choose to confess God’s Word, or choose to confess your negative experiences and feelings.

Do your circumstances make you feel like a victim?

Believe me, I know from personal experience that nobody wants to feel that they are a victim and not many would wish to even admit that they are one.

Perhaps we should look at what exactly defines a victim.

Dictionary.com gives the following definitions:

a person who suffers from a destructive or injurious action or agency:

(as in a victim of an automobile accident)

OR

a person who is deceived or cheated, as by his or her own emotions or ignorance, by the dishonesty of others, or by some impersonal agency:

(e.g. a victim of misplaced confidence; the victim of a swindler; a victim of an optical illusion).

 There are 2 further definitions but for the purposes of this post, I’m interested only in the two given above.

So, now we’ve established what defines a victim, where do you stand?

Are you a victim?

Are you tired of being, or feeling like a victim?

Are you wondering how you can change the status quo?

Did you answer: Yes! Yes! And yes!?

Well dear friend(s) God wants the same thing for you.

If you are earnestly seeking to change your status from perpetual victim to triumphant victor, to victorious over-comer, then I’ve good news for you. There’s a fool-proof strategy. Here’s how!

 

It’s Not a Magic Formula!

Now, I’m happy to share some keys with you but please don’t expect a magic formula!

Don’t expect your position to change overnight. You will have to be determined and you will have to work at it.

Okay I’m in – what do I need to do?

First off, you need to start with the Word of God.

You need to read it, believe it and speak it! And it is the constant speaking, the regular act of confessing God’s Word in faith, which will change your life, change your behaviour and change your perspective, thus changing your status from victim to victor, from underdog to over-comer.

Remember, as the saying goes: “those who say they can’t and those who say they can, are both right!” Or to put it another way: “what you confess is what you’ll possess!”

Not keen on quotes? Or do you prefer to have a scripture to support this claim?

No problem! I do have a supporting scripture for you:

But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach):

 That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

(Romans 10:8-10 NKJV)

 

You may well be accustomed to hearing this portion of scripture used in the context of soul-winning and therefore directed at unbelievers. If so, perhaps you are now feeling confused.

 Don’t be!

Yes, this is a scripture shared with unbelievers, in order to bring them to Christ but remember dear friend that God’s Word is multi-faceted. To relegate these verses as useful for soul-winning purposes only, is to make a grave mistake.

So how else should I see it?

As a living, active and powerful seed capable of changing the lives of those towards whom it has been directed, whether Christian or non-Christian.

I believe this passage of scripture represents the secret to walking as a victorious overcomer and enjoying the benefits of salvation as God’s rightful heir. I believe that if you do as it says, eventually your undesirable circumstances will change.

Let me explain.

 

Change Your Default Setting!

Firstly, you will note that you are being asked to confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus. If we are taking this passage out of the soul-winning context, what does this mean?

It means you are to confess or speak the Word of God regularly.

In John 1:1 it talks about the Word. From this verse’s context we know that the Word being spoken about here is a person. As you read on to verse 11, we learn that this Word became flesh. We realise that the Word being spoken of here is none other than Jesus. To confess the Lord Jesus therefore, is to confess (speak in agreement with) God’s Word.

Want an example of how this works? Okay then!

Say something happens which leaves you feeling a victim. You begin to meditate on what happened and how you feel. Perhaps you have a catalogue of other occurrences which you now dredge up. You start speaking about what has happened to upset you. To others. To yourself.

And the more you dwell on it, or talk about it, the more upset you get and the worse you feel.

STOP!

Change your strategy. Have a scripture verse or various verses that you can recall and reflect upon and speak to yourself (preferably out loud).

For instance, instead of thinking, believing and saying that you are a victim, a nonentity or whatever description, you, others, or the devil decides to tag you with, say what God says about you or your situation, regardless of how you may currently feel.

Every single time that negative thought or memory comes to mind or heart, slap it down with the Word of God.

As you continue to do this, God’s Word then becomes the truth that you confess (speak) and believe in your heart. The more you do this, the more the old negative thought and belief is displaced, until suddenly, the new confession, the new belief system has taken root, and next time a similar situation presents itself to you, your new positive response becomes automatic, rather than laboured or contrived.

Let’s look again at the scripture passage above. See the words I’ve underlined?

Verse 8: mouth then heart (i.e. confess/believe).

Verse 9: mouth then heart (i.e. confess/believe).

Verse 10: heart then mouth (i.e. believe/confess).

This implies (and I know it’s true because I’ve proven it in my own life), that if you speak the Word of God often enough—to yourself and over your circumstances—you will move from merely parroting the scriptures and desperately wanting to believe, to a position of confidently and consistently confessing biblical truth.

You will now be confessing (speaking) something that bears witness with your spirit, something that you truly believe and (as we see from verse 10), because our hearts and confession have now changed (but not necessarily our circumstances), our confession of God’s Word becomes instinctive and authentic.

Try it!

God’s Word is the most powerful weapon you have and it is right there within reach. Put it in your mind and heart.

Read it. Believe it. Speak it—regularly!

In my next post Part (2), I will share some supporting scriptures which anyone with a victim mentality may use as a starting point.

With love,

Carol (aka Lady Cee)

 

Are you looking for a resource that will help and encourage you to develop a consistent and confident prayer life? If so, don’t hesitate to check out the links below.

 

AMAZON UK – Print: click here; E-book: click here

AMAZON US – Print: click here;  E-book: click here

 

 

Did you enjoy this post? Please share your thoughts in a comment box below. Do you know someone who would benefit from its message? Then please don’t hesitate to share it. Thank you.

 

A Gospel According to Moi?

Q:        What is Five Minute Friday?

A:        It is a 5min free write blog event hosted by Kate Motaung. Every Thursday Kate announces a one-word prompt at 10pm EST. The link-up is open for a full week, until the following Thursday evening. For further details on how to participate click HERE. 

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Five Minute Friday Prompt: ANOTHER

It took me a little while to come up with something to fit this theme – ANOTHER!

In the beginning nothing suggested itself to me. Nothing came immediately to mind. What can I write about that would be personally meaningful to me as the writer and to you, as the reader?

I looked up the Oxford dictionary meaning to see if this would give me some inspiration and do you know what? It did!

I saw that one of the meanings of this word is: something different and then Paul’s words came to mind about “another gospel”. Now I have an idea of where to take this theme!

Do I, do you, believe or live our lives according to another gospel?

A gospel not according to Christ, or even according to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John but according to my, or your convenience. A gospel that fits in with our ideas of who God is and who we want him to be, not as he actually is. And a gospel that makes less demand upon us than that which the true gospel requires.

No?

You think?

Let’s see.

For instance, the gospel according to Jesus demands that we forgive. Not just once, or even three times, but 70 times 70!

END OF 5 MINS

So, if you examined your life, if you were absolutely honest with yourself (not the sanitised honesty that you present for the scrutiny of others), but the true, raw honesty of “it-is-what-it-is!” would you emerge squeaky clean?

I know when I look at my heart and assess myself in the light of God’s Word in this particular regard, the picture I see is not so pretty. It’s a picture marred by the stain of an unforgiving spirit. A picture that presents a detailed record of wrongs against others. A picture that ought to have been cleaned with the emulsion of forgiveness, mercy and compassion and should have been repainted with the brushes of obedience.

Instead it’s a picture that has built up a steady film of grime and dust. And instead of that picture being framed by the beauty of humility and mercy, it is stretched upon the canvas of a critical and judgmental spirit.

This picture is the result of a gospel according to moi… a gospel according to Carol. A gospel that is man-made and mixed, prompted by the devil’s goading input, along with my rebellious and self-righteous response to those who offend me.

Another gospel!

But as I examine my heart and life in the uncompromising light of God’s Word, as I look within my conscience at the picture of Jesus hanging upon his cross, as I regard the image of his marred face, his broken body, as I recall all that he suffered, so that I can enjoy a new destiny, a happy-ever-after scenario of complete and utter peace, yeah, everlasting joy in Heaven, I feel convicted. I feel ashamed.

How could I continue to behave like the protagonist in Christ’s parable of the ungrateful servant? How could I fail to forgive those who have trespassed against me, when God my Father, when Christ my Saviour, has forgiven and continues to forgive me of so much more?

No matter how big, how deep the wounds of those offences, what deception, what seed of arrogance could cause me to choose this other gospel—a gospel according to my sanctimonious standards, a standard which fell far, far short of God’s measure of righteousness in the first place? A standard which failed to satisfy God’s wrath, who required the shedding of innocent blood, the burden-bearing of an entire world’s sin and depravity before he could be appeased, before the atonement for Adam’s act of treason could be accepted?

Father-God forgive me (there I go again – needing forgiveness!).

Lord Jesus forgive me. Thank you for your wonderful example of forgiveness towards those who hated, humiliated and killed you.

Holy Spirit help me. Remind me to take up my cross and die daily to the ungracious demands of my flesh, to my unmerciful requirements for personal vengeance, to my unforgiving heart.

Help me to walk God’s highway of holiness with humility and help me to paint a Christ-like image over the offences of others, even if it requires me to do so, seventy times seventy each day, even each hour!

Friends and followers, have a blessed weekend and may God’s divine peace and protection rest upon you and upon your loved ones, as we negotiate the paths of these unprecedented times.

Best wishes,

Carol (aka Lady Cee)

Are you looking for a resource that will help and encourage you to develop a consistent and confident prayer life? If so, don’t hesitate to check out the links below.

 

AMAZON UK – Print: click here; E-book: click here

AMAZON US – Print: click here; E-book: click here

 

Did you enjoy reading this post? If so, please share your thoughts in a comment box below. Do you know someone who would benefit from its message? Then please don’t hesitate to share it. Thank you.

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An Easter Tribute To Love

 

The above CC0 image comes courtesy of Pexels.com

 

Today is Easter Sunday! Hallelujah!

Hallelujah! Jesus is alive. Jesus, my Saviour has been raised from the dead and now he lives for ever more. Now he is seated in heaven at the right hand of our Father. Now he ever lives to make intercession for me. And don’t I need it?!

But I don’t want to focus on my need today. I want to focus on my precious Father-God, my precious Saviour, and my precious Comforter and Counsellor, the inimitable Holy Spirit!

Thank you one and all for your presence in my life. Thank you dear Father-God for making me worthy to come into your presence and fellowship with you. And thank you Lord Jesus for all that you have done, to make it possible for me to be reconciled to God. Thank you for rescuing me from the clutches of Satan and redeeming me from the curse of the Law. Thank you for your obedience to the Father’s will, even to the point of death.

Hallelujah!

O Lord Jesus, I can never ever, ever thank you enough. I can never ever know and understand just how much you suffered and endured on my behalf. And when I think of this, I feel ashamed for the times in the past when I have been outraged, bitter and resentful, acted ugly because of the things I have suffered.

Ok, so they may have been unjust. But the difference between me and you, is that you have never ever sinned, never ever done anything wrong. You were and are perfect. If there is anyone in this entire universe who did not deserve unjust treatment, it was you. And yet you willingly took it. And took it without saying a word to those who meted out the false accusations, the insults, the mocking jibes, the physical assault and abuse. Nothing!

But I, who was born in sin and shaped in iniquity had plenty of things to say when I suffered. Forgive me!

Thank you for your wonderful and exemplary conduct. Thank you for your strength of character. Thank you for your incredible, extravagant, unconditional love. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you!

I love you. I appreciate you. I commit afresh, my life into your hands today. Take my life Lord and let it be, consecrated only to thee. Take my moments and take my days and let them flow in ceaseless praise to you, and to your Father, our Father.

Thank you for all you have done. And dear precious Saviour, I thank you that after all that you’ve accomplished, all that you’ve achieved, you are not resting on your laurels. You are still working, still serving. Because now that you are alive, now that you ever live, you are making continual intercession for me. I so need it! And I am so grateful.

Thank you for being the High Priest of my confessions of faith. Thank you for your precious efficacious blood, which speaks on my behalf from the Mercy Seat in heaven. Thank you for the loving eloquence of your blood, which effectively pleads for mercy, grace and forgiveness. Oh, how much better, how much nobler does your blood speak for me, than Abel’s blood, which had spoken against Cain when it cried out for vengeance!

I love you Jesus.

And I love you Father God. It was your brilliant plan. It was your wisdom and justice tempered with mercy that ensured it was executed. It was your miraculous intervention that implanted the seed of your Word within the Virgin Mary. It was your angelic protection that shielded Jesus from King Herod’s murderous edict. It was your ‘foolishness’ that conceived the idea of that accursed and monstrous cross. It was your awesome and miraculous power that raised Jesus from the dead. Hallelujah!

And you did it all for me!

You did it for the entire world, so that whoever would believe, and whoever would accept what Christ has done for them, could indeed be saved, aye, could be rescued from eternal damnation.

Such inexplicable, indescribable, incomparable love!

Father God, Lord Jesus, Precious Holy Spirit, I bow my heart and my will in reverence before you.

Triune Godhead, you are worthy to be praised. You are worthy to be glorified. You are worthy to be honoured.

Lord Jesus, be magnified today, this Easter Sunday, as I exalt your awesome name!

—–oooooo000oooooo—–

Happy Easter!

With love,

Carol (aka Lady Cee)

Author of: Petitions From My Heart

Are you looking for a resource that will help and encourage you to develop a consistent and confident prayer life? If so, don’t hesitate to check out the links below.

AMAZON UK – Print: click here; E-book: click here

AMAZON US – Print: click here;  E-book: click here

 

 

I hope you were blessed today by reading this post. If so, please share your response in a comment box below. Do you know someone who would also enjoy and benefit from its message? Then please don’t hesitate to share it. Thank you.

 

 

F.A.Q.s

 

The above CC0 image comes courtesy of Pixabay.com

 

Unless you have just escaped from the dark ages, I suspect you will know what is meant by FAQs. If not, please click here for an explanation.

Now, for some reason, in the early hours of the morning one day this week, the acronym floated into my mind and I began to wonder, if God had a certain set of questions that He frequently ponders and would love to ask us, as his children, as Christ’s followers, what would they be?

I came up with the following and hope they give you pause for thought.

1. Where are you?

This is the question God asked Adam and Eve after they sinned and hid from his presence.

Now, I am not accusing anyone of sinning, so please don’t get uptight and click away!

What I am wanting to know is, does God have occasion to ask you the above question – Where are you?

Is he often waiting for you to come visit and fellowship with him, yet ends up being disappointed?

To be invited to come into the Holy of Holies, into God’s very throne-room, is a wonderful privilege and an honour. Are you regularly snubbing the one who has secured a free entrance ticket for you, at a very high price (the unimaginable suffering and death of his Son)?

Could you improve on your visitation periods?

2. Where are my Elijahs?

Are you concerned about the moral and spiritual decline of this world? Yes?

Then what are you doing about it?

“Me?” you ask. “What do you expect me to do about it?”

It’s not what I expect you to do dear reader, it’s about what God expects you to do.

In 2 Chronicles 7:14 he says this:

If my people, who are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

Again, in the book of James, we read that the “effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” Elijah is given as an example of someone with an effective prayer life (see James 5:16b-17).

Will you be an Elijah?

3. Can I count of you?

So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but found no one.

(Ezekiel 22:30 NKJV)

Remember Abraham? He had such a great relationship with God that the Lord felt he could not destroy Sodom & Gomorrah without telling him first. It may have been because He knew Abraham’s nephew Lot, was living there. Once Abraham became aware of God’s plan, he sought to dissuade God by asking him to preserve the nation if there were at least 10 righteous people within it.

I believe if Abraham had continued negotiating and asked God to spare this wicked nation for just one righteous individual (Lot), God would have done so.

Abraham was not only deemed to be a friend of God but he is also considered to be our forefather of faith. As his offspring, are you prepared to emulate him and stand in the gap for others, who are in need of God’s grace and mercy?

4. Are you prepared to trust me in the long haul?

The above question refers to a parable Jesus told, encouraging his followers that they should always pray and not give up. The parable is about a widow who seeks the intervention of an unjust judge. This man had no regard for God, nor did he care about the woman’s plight. However, because of her persistence, he eventually gave in and granted her the justice she sought. If you are not familiar with this story, you may read about it in Luke 18:1-8.

I wonder, when Jesus shared this parable, was he concerned that people gave up too easily? Is there a prayer request you have abandoned because God has not answered it within your required deadline?

Do you have confidence in God’s Word, or are you lacking in persistent faith?

5. Do you believe that I love you and have your best interests as a primary concern upon my heart?

I am sure you have experienced disappointments in life. In fact, I’m positive there are things which have happened to you that do not reflect the abundant or victorious lifestyle you’d expected to enjoy, as a born-again Christian.

How do you feel about these instances? Do you harbour fears that God has abandoned you, or does not care?

Listen to what he has to say to you from his Word:

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, who are the called according to his purpose.

(Roman 8:28 NKJV)

Joseph found himself in prison on a charge of rape, even though he was innocent. He would never have landed up there in the first place, if it were not for the malice of his own brothers, who sold him into slavery. And all this happened, despite God revealing to Joseph that his destiny was to be a prominent leader.

We know that all ended well, not just for Joseph but for his entire family and for his host country, Egypt, when a severe famine hit the land. This, and other similar stories in the Bible should encourage us that God is able to cause all things to work together for our good.

Do you feel forgotten? If so, ignore your feelings and trust God’s Word.

Commit your concerns into our heavenly Father’s hands. Trust Him to work out his purpose for your benefit and for the blessing of others around you.

Commit (in other words pray).

Trust.

And then rest!

With love,

Carol (aka Lady Cee)

Author of: Petitions From My Heart

AMAZON UK – Print: click here; E-book: click here

AMAZON US – Print: click here;  E-book: click here

 

 

Did you enjoy reading this post? If so, please share your thoughts in a comment box below. Do you know someone who would benefit from its message? Then please don’t hesitate to share it. Thank you.

 

 

Tomorrow Never Comes!

The above CC0 Image comes courtesy of Gerd Altmann at Pixabay.com

 

Q: What is Five Minute Friday?

A: It is a 5min free write blog event hosted by Kate Motaung. Every Thursday Kate announces a one-word prompt on her blog at 10pm EST. The link-up is open for a full week, until the following Thursday evening. For further details on how to participate please visit her blog at: Heading Home.

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FIVE-MINUTE FRIDAY: Word prompt – TOMORROW

My immediate thought when I saw this prompt was of a title: Tomorrow Never Comes. I thought it was a book I’d once read by Sidney Sheldon, but a quick check shows me I am wrong.

My mind then turned to Pharaoh in the book of Exodus, who had suffered a plague of frogs, yet when Moses asked him when he’d like this plague to stop, he answered: “Tomorrow”.

Can you believe it?

Why would anyone who had suffered a nasty plague not want it to stop immediately? What on earth was he thinking?

Which then led me to think about procrastination and my problem with it. I’ve tried to break free. I think I have improved. But it is still an issue.

Take this Covid-19 virus that has descended upon and changed our lives. There were things I’d wanted to do and could very well have done, before this plague came on the scene.

Now that it’s here, I cannot do these things. Not without incurring risk. Because it involves going out and mixing with people in close proximity. I cannot, and do not wish to take this chance. Besides, measures are now in place which restrict the movements of UK citizens, so I couldn’t, even if I wanted to.

So now I’ll have to settle for second best. I’ll have to figure out a way to proceed, without doing what I should have (and could have) done earlier.

Procrastination costs. And the time and opportunity that has been lost, cannot be redeemed.

(End of 5 Mins)

Procrastination has been my unfortunate song for as long as I can remember. But I so hate those lyrics. I absolutely despise the melody. I no longer want procrastination to be the rhythm of my life. In fact, you can read my post here where I made public my decision to break with this tiresome habit.

God says we are to redeem the time. I often believe for, and ask the Holy Spirit to help me redeem (make effective) whatever time I may have left. And when I ask this, I mean in terms of how long I have left to live in this world. I mean in terms of available time left, to work on my writing projects. I mean in terms of the time I have left, to network with others, to sow seeds of loving kindness, mercy and forgiveness, or to serve his purposes.

I feel the need to do this, because I often take time for granted, along with the opportunity it affords. I’m prone to forget that any presumed window of opportunity is not guaranteed to remain open, just to fit into my schedule. A schedule of “tomorrow”, which never comes!

As we have seen with the Corona-virus, nobody knows what’s around the corner, which could completely scupper our prior plans.

People die, or leave your life for various reasons. Situations change. Things you can be depending upon, may suddenly be taken out of the equation. And then the opportunity to do that which you wanted to do, or which God had asked you to do, disappears. Puff!

This happened to me recently.

I waited to do something good for someone. I delayed because of a mixture of procrastination and hard-heartedness. I’d failed to act because I allowed offence to lodge within my heart and dictate my inclinations.

And now, the opportunity to show God that my love for him, exceeds my desire to satisfy capricious whims, has gone. Puff! Because the person in question has now departed from this world.

So, now I have to deal with the fact that I allowed stubbornness to stop me from reaching out, offering an olive branch, renewing acquaintances.

I acted no differently to Pharaoh. Instead of grabbing the opportunity to be rid of the emotional frog in my life, and be free from accusatory thoughts and wrong attitudes that plagued me, I procrastinated. I held onto them until “tomorrow”.

In my heart, I was resisting God’s Word and clear requirement. With that resistance, my mind whispered “tomorrow” whilst my stubbornness decided “Not yet!”

God warns us about rebellion. He says that those who are often reproved but harden their hearts, will be cut off without remedy (Proverbs 29:1).

Of course, I don’t want this to be my lot. I don’t want the story of my life to be written with the quill and ink of selfish and disobedient conduct.

God’s Word also warns that “…behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation. (2 Corinthians 6:2 KJV). There is a finite window of opportunity for you and me to walk in God’s ways… to be obedient to his will. Nobody knows when that window will close. So, waiting until tomorrow, a tomorrow that may never come, could work to our detriment.

If you are procrastinating about something you know you should do, or something God has instructed you to do, please pay heed dear reader, and learn a valuable lesson from me.

I pray for myself and for anyone else who struggles with similar issues. I pray that God will work within our hearts… that he will change us and bring us to that place where we both desire to obey His will, and actually do so, without delay.

Wishing you a peace-filled and victorious week.

With love,

Carol (aka Lady Cee)

Author of: Petitions From My Heart

AMAZON UK – Print: click here; E-book: click here

AMAZON US – Print: click here;  E-book: click here

 

 

Did you enjoy reading this post? If so, please share your thoughts in a comment box below. Do you know someone who would benefit from its message? Then please don’t hesitate to share it. Thank you.

 

What’s your “P” Philosophy?

 

The above CC0 image comes courtesy of Pixabay.com

 

Whenever you are feeling discouraged, disappointed or disillusioned with life, what do you do?

When life fails to go your way, or when people mistreat you, how do you habitually behave?

In that hour when emotions are high, when feelings of anger, frustration or failure reign, what will be your default position?

How we choose to behave during such times, demonstrates the level of our spiritual growth and maturity. Make no mistake, as a child of God, both Satan and the Holy Spirit will be standing by, seeking to influence your behaviour.

The voice we choose to listen to, will determine whether we emerge as perpetual victims or perceptive victors. [click to tweet]

In 1 Samuel 25:10-13, we read an account of how David was ill-treated and insulted by Nabal. David took offence and fully intended to wreak vengeance. If it were not for the quick thinking of this churlish man’s wife, David would have been guilty of killing not only Nabal but his entire unsuspecting household—including people who were innocent, who had done nothing wrong!

Anger and a desire for revenge, had clouded David’s judgment.

In comparison, Job demonstrated an admirable standard of emotional maturity. After losing all of his ten children, his considerable wealth and even his health, Job’s wife counselled him to: “Curse God and die!”

Job however, chose to adopt a mature philosophical outlook. He said:

“…Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?”

(Job 2:10 NKJV)

Unlike David, Job chose not to listen to the Enemy’s suggestion, or pander to any sense of outrage, or to feelings of self-pity. He ignored his wife’s blasphemous suggestion, chose not to sin with his lips, nor to charge God with wrong, but to worship the Lord (see Job 2:20-22).

Dear reader, of the two examples mentioned above, which are you more likely to do?

Women of Warfare follower, you can choose your spiritual development philosophy this day, this hour, this season. Will you pity-party or pray?

With love,

 

Carol (aka Lady Cee)

Author of: Petitions From My Heart

AMAZON UK – Print: click here; E-book: click here

AMAZON US – Print: click here;  E-book: click here

 

 

 

Royal Connections!

 

 

Today, I received a letter in the post. The envelope indicated that this letter was from Buckingham Palace, residence of Her Majesty the Queen.

I’d completely forgotten that I’d written expressing my good wishes to her and her family for 2020. Now, I don’t normally write to the Queen, but I’d wanted to send her a complimentary copy of my recently published book (Petitions From My Heart), since it included prayers for her and her family.

As you can imagine, I was quite pleased to have received a response. It was not unexpected. I am aware the Queen responds (via her correspondence team), to those of her subjects who happen to send her letters. Although I did not ask, I had secretly hoped she would grant me permission to send my book but this was not forthcoming. However, the letter thanked me for observing their request regarding unsolicited gifts.

As I put the letter aside and contemplated showing it to my husband later when he returned from work, my thoughts went to my Father God. You see I imagine that this letter, is the closest I will ever get to Her Majesty the Queen.

Just because I sent her a letter and showed interest in her and her family, just because I’d observed royal protocol, this did not get me any further into her favour. It did not get me an invite for dinner, or draw me into her inner circle. As far as she was concerned, I was just one of her subjects, who happened to write to her and she had done her duty by granting me the courtesy of a response. There would be no further communication, no invite to become better acquainted.

My Father God however, who is so much greater than Her Majesty the Queen, indeed, greater than any illustrious person on earth (be it royalty, celebrity or other significant person), has deemed me fit to come into his awesome presence. He has graciously invited me to come and fellowship with him. He has willingly and generously adopted me into his family, elevated my position in life (to a royal status no less!), and granted me the privilege of unrestricted access to his holy presence and divine resources.

Whilst I acknowledge my pleasure at receiving a response from Her Majesty the Queen, I also realise that the reciprocal relationship and communication I have with the three members of the Godhead, is so much more rewarding.

So today, I’m giving thanks that I have a meaningful relationship with the King of kings and Lord of lords. I’m giving thanks that I know, and I’m also known by, the God of all gods!

Today, I’m appreciating afresh my place within my Father God’s kingdom as a member of His royal priesthood. And I look forward to the day I shall enjoy the silver service of my dear precious Saviour, when I partake of his feast at the marriage supper of the Lamb.

Dear friends and followers, my heart’s desire and prayer for you today is that you will also have a new awareness of your royal status and appreciate the unrestricted access you have to the three members of the Holy Godhead (Father, Son and Holy Spirit).

Have a beautiful and blessed week!

With love,

Carol (aka Lady Cee)

Author of: Petitions From My Heart

 

AMAZON UK – Print: click here; E-book: click here

AMAZON US – Print: click here;  E-book: click here

 

 

 

 

 

Present? Or Absent?

 

The above CC0 image comes courtesy of Pixabay.com

 

Jesus told them a story showing that it was necessary for them to pray consistently and never quit.

(Luke 18:1 – The Message)

 

Just suppose there’s an angel up in heaven consulting a register and calling out the name of every child of God who regularly engages in prayer?

Would s/he mark you down as present or absent?

The following is an extract from my book, Petitions From My Heart:

Daily we should be presenting ourselves before the throne of God to obtain grace for our specific needs.

Daily we should be declaring the establishment of God’s Kingdom in our lives, the Body of Christ, and our nation.

Daily we should be deploying the spiritual weapons of our warfare, combating the strategies, ploys and tactics of the Enemy designed to intimidate and deceive us, and thwart the purposes of God for our lives.

Who knows, perhaps countless heartaches could be avoided and seemingly irreconcilable situations reversed, if we diligently heed Paul’s exhortation to continue steadfast in prayer (Romans 12:12).

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 Challenge:

Have you sent Jesus your knee-mail today? [click to tweet]

Love,

Carol (aka Lady Cee)

Author of: Petitions From My Heart

AMAZON UK – Print: click here; E-book: click here

AMAZON US – Print: click here;  E-book: click here

 

 

Not Now God! (2)

 

The above CC0 image comes courtesy of Gerd Altmann at Pixabay.com

 

 

At the beginning of this year, I wrote a post inspired by a children’s book called Not Now Bernard. 

If you’ve not read it, or you would like to refresh your mind about this post please click here.

I ended that post with the following words:

As Christians, is it possible that when we habitually make excuses about our prayerlessness, when we say we are too busy to pray, we are by default allowing a spiritual monster to devour our loved ones and devour aspects of our own lives?

When we say: “Not now God!” (either literally or by default), when we choose other priorities, we may be unwittingly opening our lives to the presence of that spiritual monster, Satan.

Dear reader, I wonder what your attitude is towards God and the subject of prayer?

Is prayer something you do as a last ditch effort to get God’s attention, or something you engage in regularly?

Do you see prayer as a spiritual discipline that you’re aware you should be doing but just don’t have the energy, or the inclination, or even the foggiest knowledge about how to go about it?

Or, is it something that you’ve tried in the past and have now given up on?

During my many years as a Christian, I’ve come across all sorts of attitudes when it comes to prayer. And I’ve heard all sorts of reasons why people don’t pray regularly.

Maybe you are one of those people who:

• Do not feel confident that their prayers are being heard
• Feel they don’t know how to pray effectively
• Reserve prayer for times of personal crisis
• Say they do not have enough time
• Believe this is the forte of specially called people, such as intercessors
• Find prayer boring
• Feel guilty that they are not praying enough, or feel intimidated by the concept
• Do not believe that their prayers make a difference
• Get so caught up with the pressures of daily living that a devotional and prayer life are placed on the back burner and then forgotten.

 

Women of Warfare followers and visitors if you are someone who has believed, thought or said any of the above as a reason why you do not pray, then may I be blunt with you?

–          A failure to pray is in effect a veiled statement where you are saying: Not now God!

–          A deliberate decision to not communicate with your Heavenly Father, hides a subconscious cry from your heart – Not now God!

–          A refusal to engage with Him who has given you breath and generously sustains it, is tantamount to an ungrateful snub (Not now God!)

Dear reader, lack of confidence, or know-how, or experience, are not justifiable excuses.

The disciples recognised their lack of know-how and asked Jesus to teach them to pray. Have you asked?

Every child of God has the Holy Spirit dwelling within them and He is more than capable of teaching and helping and motivating us to pray. We need only ask. We need only to have the desire and will. We need only to obey.

And as we engage, as we participate regularly, as we continue to connect, we shall grow in knowledge and experience, in confidence and in passion and, instead of: Not now God! our hearts will instead cry:

I come now God! I come with thanksgiving and praise. I come with hope for my future. I come with expectation of your forgiveness, goodness and mercy. I come to do your will.

My dear friend, if you have not already made it a habit to visit God’s throne room daily, may I encourage you to make a quality decision to do so? Don’t delay. Don’t put it off for a more “convenient” time, or for when you feel “good enough” or have arrived at whatever place of spiritual maturity you feel you need to be at. Do it now!

And if you would like a resource that will help you to structure your prayer life, or enable you to pray regularly, may I recommend my book Petitions From My Heart?

Have a blessed weekend!

Love Carol,

 

Carol Hind

Writer/Blogger/Prayer Advocate

Author of: Petitions From My Heart

 

Prayer – A Precious Privilege!

 

 

When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive – to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love. Marcus Aurelius

 

 

Prayer is a privilege and the soul’s sincere desire. We can move beyond routine and ‘checklist’ prayers and engage in meaningful prayer as we appropriately ask in faith and act, as we patiently persevere through the trial of our faith, and as we humbly acknowledge and accept ‘not my will, but Thine, be done.’ David A. Bednar

 

 

This morning, I’d like to discuss the privilege we’ve been given as children of God. You see there was a time when you could not dare to go into God’s holy presence uninvited, or unqualified. If you were not a Levite priest you were not invited and if you didn’t fulfil strict conditions, then you weren’t qualified.

No wonder whenever the High priests entered into God’s presence they went with a sense of trepidation. Would they make it out alive? No doubt, once their offering was accepted and they left the Holy of Holies (the place of God’s presence) alive, they felt relieved.

I thank God that this is no longer the protocol for coming into his presence. Because of Jesus, because his death enabled anyone to have direct access to God, you and I can now enter into the Holy of Holies, into God’s very presence without fear, guilt, or any sense of inferiority.

Prayer is communication with our Father God. And we are privileged to be able to take our cares and place upon his shoulders. We are privileged to be able to share our joys with him. We are privileged to be able to seek his intervention in the affairs of our lives, those of our loved ones, indeed of this world.

Would you not count it a privilege if a famous member of the rich and powerful clique were to take a special interest in you? Would you not feel privileged if a celebrity invited you into their home and made you feel at ease, decided they wanted to bless you with their worldly goods, use their authority and influence to help you?

Yet, sadly, it seems the one who is above all, indeed the one who created all, is not looked upon in the same way… not sought after in the same way.

Dear friends, the God of gods, King of kings and Lord of lords, is the “Celebrity” of all celebrities.

He has graciously invited you and me to share the benefits and blessings of his kingdom. He has graciously invited us to come into the Holy of Holies and visit him without restricted access. He has promised he will never leave or forsake us. He has declared his unconditional and everlasting love for us.

And yet, some of us do not avail ourselves of the tremendous privilege that he offers. Some of us fail to pray, to communicate with Father God on a regular basis. And there are some who may do so, but do it out of a sense of duty or desperation, not from a sense of gratitude, or reverence, or awe.

Friends and followers, where are you when it comes to communicating with your Father God? Are you availing yourself of this wonderful privilege? Have you thanked God for waking you up today? Have you invited him to influence your thoughts, attitudes and actions? Have you sought the riches of his wisdom?

 

Prayer Focus:

Let us pray for ourselves and for our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ that God will stir up within our hearts an increasing desire to fellowship with him through prayer.

PS: Don’t forget to don your spiritual armour before entering the battlefield of prayer!

 

PRAYER:

Father God,

We want to thank you for waking us up this morning to greet another day. We are aware that there are people all over this world who were not so privileged. Thank you for your breath of life which flows throughout our beings. We want to thank you that we are not only alive but we are privileged to be able to fellowship with you. We are privileged to be able to come directly into your presence, to worship, declare our love for you and make our requests known to you. Hallelujah!

Father God, we ask that you draw us with your gentle cords of love into a closer, deeper, more meaningful relationship with you. We ask that you open the eyes of our understanding so that we can clearly see the wonders of your person and the riches of your magnanimous nature. Draw us into that place of joyful communion and utter dependence upon you. Grant us clear insight into your thoughts and feelings towards us and reveal your plans, your purpose and your destiny for our lives.

Father God, whenever we allow disappointments or problems to draw our attention away from you, change our perspective. Enable us to draw upon the measure of faith you have deposited within us. Enable us to trust you, to call upon you for help during times of confusion, fear or weakness. Grant us the boldness and courage to take our place on the battlefield of prayer knowing you have provided adequate protection and that your Word declares that we are more than conquerors!

We thank you in anticipation of victory. We thank you for hearing our prayers and granting our requests.

In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

© Carol Hind

 

Would you be interested in a resource that could help you to pray regularly? If so, please check out my book Petitions From My Heart at Amazon.

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Sunday’s Supplications

Sunday’s Supplications invites you to not only read the posts but also participate in the prayers. Why not become a part of the WoW! community? Let’s pray for ourselves and for each other. Let’s obey God’s command to watch and pray for all the saints (Ephesians 6:18)

Please note, you do not have to be a blogger to join this praying community.

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Women of Warfare followers and visitors have a wonderful and victorious week!

 

 

 

 

 

Yippee! I’ve Finally Done It!

 

I can’t help myself. I just keep staring and staring and staring at it.

What am I staring at?

A dream come true!

A long-standing goal realised!

I’m referring to my recently published book. And although it’s my first book, I consider it to be my “magnum opus”. Why?

Because it represents a significant portion of my life.

Because it is the culmination of hours and hours and hours of writing, re-writing, researching, editing and proof-reading.

Because by God’s help I was able to persevere, despite much personal discouragement, fears, frustration and the temptation to give up.

And now, before my very eyes, this book is the sweet manifestation of many years’ work… it is a beautiful testimony of my sweat, tears, tests and trials… it is the fruitful endeavour of a beautiful creative partnership between the Holy Spirit and myself.

It is evidence of my God’s goodness, grace and faithfulness, and a marvellous answer to prayer.

And so, dear reader, in all humility, may I share my pride and joy with you?

Yes?

Thank you!

(Drum roll please)

Ladies and gentlemen, fellow bloggers, visiting readers, I have great pleasure in presenting to you:

 

Do check it out at Amazon: United Kingdom or USA

With much love,

Carol

(aka Lady Cee) ♥♥♥

 

CREDIT: The above featured image is a CC0 image which comes courtesy of Pixabay.com

 

 

Holy Week: It Is Not Goodbye!

 

 

 It is Saturday. The day after the worst day of their lives.

The unthinkable deed has been done.

Jesus—the expected Messiah, Mary’s first-born son and the disciples’ beloved friend and master—has been crucified and his body lies in a sealed tomb.

It’s over!

What can be more final than death?

What grief… what confusion… what mixed emotions Jesus’ loved ones must have experienced! How forlorn they must have felt.

I can recall feeling devastated when my mother died.

I can recall:

• the mixed feelings of peace and assurance that she’d gone to be with the Lord,
• the relief that she no longer had to endure loss of dignity and suffering,

 and also

• the void in my life that she left behind.

As I considered what I should write about today and how I should tackle the theme of this post, I remembered searching for the right poem to read at my mother’s funeral. I wanted a poem which would adequately express my family’s feelings. Although this was not one of my choices, the following poem came to mind, as one which eminently suits the circumstances of our Saviour’s death.

Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not there; I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sun on ripened grain
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning’s hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there; I did not die.¹

Now in the case of our Lord and Saviour, the above words have a particular resonance because we know that Jesus, is God. He fills all and is all. He is the First and Last, the beginning and the end. He is Alpha and Omega (Revelation 1:8, 11).

More importantly, Jesus told his disciples that he would arise from the dead.

And so, unlike our mortal loved ones, even though Jesus had died, he’d previously declared to his disciples that he would not only live again but they’d see him alive with their own eyes. In fact, he even arranged to meet them in Galilee (Mark 16:7).

However, the disciples found this a difficult concept to wrap their head around—as would you or I!

And so, despite being present when Jesus raised Jairus’ daughter from the dead², despite being aware that their Messiah friend had brought a young man back to life during a funeral procession³, despite witnessing the astounding resurrection of Lazarus who’d been dead for 4 days⁴, the disciples either did not believe Jesus, or were so overwhelmed with grief that they failed to remember his words.

Before his death, Jesus had given them words of comfort and assurance which should have been a solace to them. He was saying in effect: Yes, I am going to die. But, No – it is not permanent. It is not goodbye!

And as I considered these things it made me think about how many times, we as God’s children, may hear the Word of God and know his promises yet fail to believe them, or fail to remember them, even at times fail to allow them to be a source of comfort, or strength, to dictate our behaviour, or guide our decisions.

I can imagine that alongside their grief, the disciples struggled with condemnation. They had failed their Messiah friend. And those who were the closest to him, had run away in fear during Jesus’ arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane. Peter, despite declaring that he was ready to die with Jesus, denied him in no uncertain terms. And poor Judas was so remorseful about the treacherous part he had played that he hung himself.

Now, as I mentioned above, we often look for words which express our heart and feelings towards our loved ones, to share at their funeral. We have seen that Jesus left behind words of assurance for his disciples and loved ones, which they either disbelieved, or failed to remember.

I wonder what words of comfort Christ might wish to speak to us today. I imagine they could be something along the lines of this:

 

Friends and followers, I pray my message today will remind you that God is loving, merciful and forgiving. That is why he sent his Son to die for us.

Jesus did die. The deed was done. But hallelujah! He faithfully completed the task God sent him to do. It is finished!

Today, let us be thankful to our Heavenly Father that it’s not goodbye to second or third or even a million chances. It is not goodbye to God’s blessings, grace and mercy. And for those of us who enjoy an ongoing spiritual relationship with our Father God and with Jesus Christ – it is not, and will not be goodbye to his precious presence – forever!

Happy Easter!

Love from

Carol (aka Lady Cee)

 

References:

1 – Written by: Mary Elizabeth Frye – source link:

2 -Mark 5:22-24; 35-42

3 – Luke 7:11-15

4 – John 11:38-44

 

 

Good Friday Reflection

 

 

For Christ also suffered once for sins,

The just for the unjust,

That He might bring us to God,

Being put to death in the flesh

But made alive by the Spirit.

(1 Peter 3:18 NKJV)

 

God proved His love on the Cross. When Christ hung, and bled, and died, it was God saying to the world, ‘I love you.’

– Billy Graham

 

In Christ we see a maturity of love that flowers in self-sacrifice and forgiveness; a maturity of power that never swerves from the ideal of service; a maturity of goodness that overcomes every temptation, and, of course, we see the ultimate victory of life over death itself.

Vincent Nichols

 

AGNUS DEI

 

Wishing you all a Happy Easter!

 

CREDIT: the above CC0 image comes courtesy of Pixabay.com

 

Holy Week – A Time to Ponder

A time to reflect. A time to examine our hearts afresh. A time to make sober assessments of our lives and see whether we are truly aligning our thoughts and lives to the spiritual requirements of our Father God. A time to contemplate the Passion of our Christ. A time to surrender. A time to pray. A time to praise. A time to express heartfelt gratitude. A time to celebrate!

If the above words resonate with you and you’d like to spend a little more time in an atmosphere of prayer, praise and worship, then here is a link to one of my previous posts, which I trust will help you to do just that.

Happy Easter dear friends!

Love,

Carol (aka Ladycee) ♥ ♥ ♥

CREDIT: the above CC0 image comes courtesy of Pixabay.com

 

 

Stop Complaining and Making Excuses — The Light in the Heart

Maturity is when you stop complaining and making excuses in your life; you realize everything that happens in life is a result of the previous choice you’ve made and start making new choices to change your life. Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the heart

via Stop Complaining and Making Excuses — The Light in the Heart

Captives, Chains & the Power of Christ

But thus says the Lord:

“Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away,

And the prey of the terrible be delivered…” (Isaiah 49:25)

 

In order to fully appreciate the message of this post, please listen to the following video of gospel artist, Tasha Cobbs.

Singing a Song of God’s Deliverance:

Wow! Whether through preaching, praise or prayer, what an honour to be able to have such influence, to be a vessel through whom God’s glorious power can be released!

 God Cares About the Captives:

There is power in the name of Jesus!

And in the mighty, matchless name of Jesus, every chain can be broken!

Do you believe that?

Maybe as we look around us and consider the problems of this world, we find it hard to believe. Perhaps even our own personal experience stands at odds with the above statement.

So if that’s the case, what is one to do?

Beloved, let me encourage you to take a leaf from the book of a humble and honest man in the Bible, who cried out: Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!

Did you listen to the above video? I hope you didn’t skip it because I know it will bless you, and this post is in part my response to it.

Greater is God’s power within us than the Enemy’s attack against us!

I have spent a good 2 hours or so this morning, listening to Tasha Cobbs sing her powerfully anointed song: There is power in the name of Jesus!

Following an overwhelming and persistent attack of the Enemy upon my mind and physical being, I began to watch this video. Listening to this song and responding to the power and anointing of Jesus as Tasha ministered, changed the very atmosphere around and within me. Furthermore, it has stirred a new desire to be used mightily by God, to see people set free from the lies and deception of the Enemy.

A heart of compassion:

Dear readers, I’ve been listening to this song quite a lot this week. And yes, whilst I’ve been touched by the testimonies of God’s power, I’ve been even more deeply moved by the cries of individuals beseeching God to change them… to change their lives… to deliver them from addictions and all manner of brokenness or the destruction of their circumstances.

And these testimonies, these pleas for God’s intervention, have birthed afresh in my heart, wonder and amazement and adoration for a Holy God who could love as He loves, who could be so merciful and generous of heart that he would stoop down to rescue those who call upon him, whether in faith, or in desperation. What a mighty God we serve! What an awesome God we serve!

Privileged to serve:

And what an honour, privilege and responsibility we’ve been given as Christ’s disciples, as members of his Body to bring that message of hope and reconciliation to others. To come alongside our Heavenly Father as his co-labourers and use our gifts for his glory, and to serve those he brings across our pathway. What an honour to be entrusted to pray and intercede for his will to be done on earth as it is in heaven… to command that the chains of Satan’s captives be broken!

Dear friends, I am positive that there are no addictions, afflictions, overwhelming cares, bondages, or besetting problems in heaven. Absolutely none!

So if that is the case, why are we not seeing more of God’s will being accomplished here on earth? Has God’s power diminished? Has the power resident in the name of Jesus somehow decreased?

Ridiculous even to ask, isn’t it? Of course it hasn’t!

So if the problem is not with God’s power, if it’s not with the name of Jesus, then what’s the problem? Who’s the problem?

That’s the question you and I have to ask ourselves honestly. This is the time to examine ourselves—not our colleagues, not our neighbours, not our leaders, not our pastors or politicians!

Why am I not experiencing the phenomenal power of God in my life, in the lives of my loved ones, in my work place, local fellowship, city and nation?

Heeding Christ’s Call to Prayer

Creflo Dollar once said that every failure in our lives is the result of a prayer failure.

Bearing this in mind, may I remind you of what Jesus said whilst he walked on this earth? He said that “…men always ought to pray and not lose heart.” (Luke 18:1)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, let us not forget Creflo Dollar’s words. And let’s begin to be diligent in obeying Jesus’ uncompromising direction. Let us pray always and not lose heart.

Have a blessed and victorious weekend!

Love from,

Carol (aka Lady Cee)

 

Credit: the above CC0 image comes courtesy of Pixabay.com

 

 

An A-Z Challenge – Looking back over 2018

 

 

I have to admit that when it comes to the idea of developing an attitude of gratitude, I’m a keen advocate. Particularly since God’s Word warns us that an unthankful attitude can cause us to have futile and foolish thoughts and worse, darken our hearts (see Romans 1:21).

No way do I want this to be my story!

I came across the idea of a Thankfulness challenge from Dainty M. See her post on this at: https://daintym.com/2018/12/30/think-thank-challenge-2018/

Dear friends and followers, there are some who expected to celebrate the New Year but did not even make it to the end of 2018. Remember – if it were not for the grace of God, this could so easily have been me, or you!

It’s easy to beat up on ourselves if we haven’t accomplished the goals we set out to achieve, or to entertain a bad attitude because life didn’t deliver the goodies we’d envisaged. As we prepare to close the door upon 2018 and move forward into a brand new year, let’s do so with a positive spirit. Let’s do so with a heart FULL of thanksgiving to our Father God, for his gracious goodness toward us.

And now for my personal take on this challenge, as I look back upon the year(s) gone by.

First and foremost, I am thankful that recent years have seen me develop and maintain an attitude of gratitude. It’s easy to go through life with a “poor me” mentality. Self-pity only blinds our eyes to the good aspects of our current circumstances.

I am grateful for unlimited access to books.  I love reading and in the past I have devoured books in the hundreds. This year I’ve read 13 non-fiction books and 7 novels. I’m supremely thankful for the various versions of the Bible available, and in keeping with my goal to read the entire Bible once per year, I have so far read 44 of the 66 books in the Amplified version (Yes, I am somewhat behind!). This makes a grand total of 64 books read this year, which have educated, entertained or empowered me. Yay!

I am thankful for Christmas. Not necessarily the baubles, gifts and glitter of the season but for the real reason we celebrate this event – the birth of Jesus Christ! If God had not sent him into this world, I shudder to think about where you and I would be, as spiritual outcasts doomed to damnation.

I am grateful to God for deliverance. Not just for the instant deliverance from the power of sin, received when I entrusted my life to Christ and chose to become his disciple, but also for daily deliverance from the power of the Enemy unleashed within and against my life and the lives of my loved ones.

I cannot thank God enough for his generosity of heart in granting us the opportunity of eternal life. I’m referring here not just to the assurance of life after death, a glorious future in heaven where neither tears nor trials will exist, but also to the God-quality type of life we can enjoy now, right here upon this earth, as an heir of salvation.

I am hoping for many things in 2019 and beyond, should God spare my life! I am therefore thankful for faith (the substance of things hoped for). I am grateful to God that even if my faith is as small as a mustard seed, it is enough to secure my miracle, or a significant breakthrough. It is sufficient for me to be able to withstand the wiles of the devil and emerge as a victorious overcomer!

During the latter part of this year, I have enjoyed the wonderful ministry of two individuals: (Joel Osteen and Rabbi Schneider).  I am so, so thankful for godly ministers such as these two men and the positive spiritual input they have contributed to my life.

I am thankful for the presence and assistance of the Holy Spirit. What a priceless and precious resource to have in one’s life! When I don’t know how or what to pray, when I have no idea what I should do in a particular situation, when I need the back-up of a spiritual heavy weight, guess whom I turn to. That’s right – my confidante and helper – the eminent Holy Spirit!

I am thankful God did not make us robots but blessed us with imagination. Now in the past, I have used this to my detriment, imagining mostly negative scenarios. But what a blessing to be able to use this ability in pursuit of our gifts and calling! What a blessing to be able to use this gift as a visualisation tool for success… to be able to use this in our creative endeavours. Recently, I wrote a poem, Autumn’s Soliloquy (click here to read), which I could not have done without the use of my creative imagination.

And how can I not be grateful for Jesus? He is my Lord and Saviour. He is the author and finisher of my faith. And it is only through him and because of him that I am able to reign over troublesome circumstances.

I am thankful for the gift of kindness. This year, I’ve been on the receiving end of beautiful acts of kindness from two of my sisters, who decided to celebrate me and whom God used to both tell and show me that I am “special” in his sight; as well as through prophetic words of encouragement received from a blogger (meet Holly), someone I have never met! Isn’t God amazing?

I am thankful for love. That is, God’s love! Agapē love. A brand of love that is extravagant and extraordinary. An unconditional love. A love that has been extended to me without reservation. Many people have gone out of their way to show me their disdain. But the one who has every right to shun me, has lovingly embraced me, welcomes me into his presence and wants to associate with me. I can only reiterate with heartfelt gratitude the lyrics of Graham Kendrick’s song, in which he so aptly observes: Such love!

I am thankful for precious memories. Having suffered the loss of my mother two years ago, I am grateful for those memories of when she was here on earth with us. Cherished memories of wonderful times at Christmas and birthdays which she created, are now stored within my memory bank alongside memories of her faithful prayer life, which challenges me to do better in my own spiritual journey.

I am thankful for new opportunities. Every day is a fresh chance to draw closer to God, to become a better version of myself as a disciple of Christ, to improve my relationships, to conquer adverse circumstances.

I am thankful for the various occasions that grant me an opportunity to dress up, meet with family members and friends, or host dinner parties at my home. Concerning the latter, I guess I’m more like Martha in the Bible, who became hot and bothered by all the preparation, rather than sitting and enjoying the company of her visitor. I also love those special celebrations, which enable me to participate in an atmosphere of praise and worship to our Father God. And I’m deeply thankful that I live in a country where I can enjoy such occasions without fear of persecution.

Without the shadow of a doubt, I know I could not survive, or thrive, without Prayer. I am thankful indeed for the opportunity to communicate with my Father God, at any time, without the need to make an appointment, or go through a third party. I am thankful for the privilege of having direct access to the ear and heart of the most powerful being in the universe.  

I am grateful for the ability to quench my thirst – whether literally (I live in a country where I can pour myself a clean glass of water to drink whenever I wish), or metaphorically (I can consult an expert or avail myself of the vast knowledge on the Internet) at the click of my mouse.

I am thankful for Rick Warren’s manifesto on the meaning of life, as revealed in his book, The Purpose-driven Life. This year’s re-reading of Warren’s 40-day spiritual guide has been a huge blessing to me, as I’m reminded of God’s five-fold purpose for my life.

I am thankful to God for a sound mind. There are so many people suffering from depression, or dementia, or some form of mental illness. There are also those of us who ordinarily believe that we are of a sound mind, yet we are being driven by different debilitating fears. I thank God for the lessons he is teaching me regarding maintaining a sound mind.

Today and every day, I am thankful for the Truth of God’s Word. The word of family and friends, line managers, national leaders and world rulers (even our own words), can prove fickle, untrustworthy. God’s Word is stable, fixed and unchanging. He will not break his covenant, or alter the word that has gone out from his lips (Psalm 89:34).

I appreciate and am grateful for the UCB Devotional, Word For Today (you can check out the audio and written versions of this resource at:  https://www.ucb.co.uk/word-for-today). As anyone familiar with my two blogs: A Purpose-driven achiever and Women of Warfare! can confirm, I highly recommend this spiritual resource written by Bob and Debby Gass and often quote from these within my posts.

I’m grateful for the support of various bloggers, such as Shell Vera, who regularly leave a comment in response to my posts. As a blogger, comments are like gold dust. They are the only means by which I can receive valuable feedback to my posts. Equal thanks goes to those who regularly drop by and “like” my posts. You are a treasure!

I never thought I’d find myself uttering these words but I am thankful for my work. It is a job, rather than a career, but I am thankful that through this position, I’ve been able to help pay bills, maintain the roof over our head, enjoy great holidays and give towards the work of God’s kingdom.

I thank God for the X-chromosome that produced me. As Psalm 139 accurately and definitively declares: I am fearfully and wonderfully made! It’s reassuring to know that God purposed I should be born, even before my conception. It is so awe-inspiring to know that God planned every single detail of my conception from the parents who would raise me, to my geographical location. What an amazing God!

I’m not ashamed to admit it. I’m thankful to God for YouTube! Through this channel I’ve discovered motivational speakers such as: Brendon Burchard, Jim Rohn and Les Brown.

Finally, I am grateful for the zealous individuals who come across my pathway whether in the Body of Christ or in secular situations. I am thankful for the inspirational messages of people such as the Apostle Paul, TD Jakes and Maya Angelou.

Thank you dear Father God, for ALL that you have done within, for and through me, in 2018.

 

CREDIT: The above CC0 image comes courtesy of Pixabay.com

Progress Check – Where are you on your journey?

Hello Peoples!

How are you doing?

I trust you are enjoying an abundant life, enjoying your privileged relationship with God, and making good progress on your spiritual journey.

At the beginning of this year, I wrote a 7-part series which focused on your journey – the journey you will take from 1 January to 31 December 2018. I asked you to think about what this journey will look like.

Will it be a journey of frustration, or a journey of faith?

Will you emerge from this year’s journey as a victorious overcomer, or will circumstances hold you captive and make, or keep you a victim?

It may seem harsh to hear what I’m about to say but I hope you will hear me objectively and realise that I speak from a heart that genuinely wants the best for you.

So, what am I about to say?

That whether or not you reach the end of your journey this year as a victorious overcomer, will be your own choice!

And so my dear spiritual buddy, what are you choosing? Are you choosing to obey God’s Word or spending too much time listening to the voice of the Enemy? Or are your ears constantly attuned to the voice of secular opinion?

Are you choosing to die to self-serving desires, or to live a life which honours and glorifies God?

Are you praying or complaining? Praying or pity-partying?

Dear reader, whether by intention or whether by default, your decisions, your mind-set, your habitual actions will determine the success or failure of your spiritual journey this year.

I close with this beautiful quote I discovered today:

 

Whatever your storybook carries within its pages, own it with love, courage and compassion. Remember that you can change your story at any time – nothing is fixed and we all have free will. We should not seek to love someone else’s journey more than we love our own; the swords of comparison are sharp and cutting to our soul and innermost values. We are all designed unique with our own original paths to walk through; we lose momentum and our natural impulses for creativity and progression when we focus our energy on other people.
― Christine Evangelou, Rocks Into Roses: Life Lessons and Inspiration for Personal Growth

 

Have a blessed weekend!

ooooOOOOOooooo

 

In case you’d like to remind yourself of my message to you at the beginning of this year, or if you are a new visitor to Women of Warfare! here is the link to my post referred to above (click here).

 

Comfort For Your Journey

 

Good morning lovely people!

I came across this beautiful quote a few moments ago and just had to share it with you all.

Thanks for taking the time to read and have a blessed and God-flavoured day!

With love,

Lady Cee ♥♥♥

 

If we never experience the chill of a dark winter, it is very unlikely that we will ever cherish the warmth of a bright summer’s day. Nothing stimulates our appetite for the simple joys of life more than the starvation caused by sadness or desperation. In order to complete our amazing life journey successfully, it is vital that we turn each and every dark tear into a pearl of wisdom, and find the blessing in every curse. 

― Anthon St. Maarten, Divine Living: The Essential Guide To Your True Destiny

 

The above CC0 image comes courtesy of Jose Antonio Alba at Pixabay.com

I Appreciate You!

 

Hello old friends and new followers,

As those who  have followed me for some time and regularly read my posts are aware, I love to acknowledge new followers.

I don’t always get around to thanking you all in person as much as I’d like to do, but I don’t want anyone thinking you have gone unnoticed.

No way!

I appreciate you!

I’m honoured when you take the time to read and engage with me regarding my posts. I hope you will continue to find them a benefit and blessing to your life.

So, this post is in honour of you all, both old and new. This post serves as a vehicle to express my heartfelt appreciation. I enjoy my exchanges with those who interact and hope our relationship will continue. I pray God will continue to use my words to inspire or challenge – not only you but also myself. And may He use these posts to motivate us as a community to achieve, grow and live our best lives!

Wishing you all a blessed and victorious week ahead.

With sincere love and gratitude,

Carol

(aka Lady Cee)

 

Have you been blessed by my posts? If so, please don’t hesitate to leave me a comment (I just love the encouragement) and also feel free to share them with your social media contacts.

 

CREDIT: The above image comes courtesy of Pixabay.com

 

Enjoy God – Enjoy Life!

 

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THEME: ENJOY

• To find pleasure in something
• To have, experience or have the benefit of something good

 (Chambers 21^st Century Dictionary)

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Have you heard of Joyce Meyer?

She is a woman of God, who has a highly successful ministry, attracting both men and women. But my main reason for flagging her up to you today, is the marketing strapline for her daily broadcasts—Enjoying Every-Day Life. 

One of my goals this year—which I’d like to be an ongoing goal for as long as I live—is to glorify God. Well since last month, I’ve expanded that goal to both glorifying and enjoying God.

As Christians, I sometimes feel we can take ourselves too seriously, or we can be negative and ungrateful. Even, I’m sorry to say, we can be a most miserable set of people.

I don’t say that to upset anyone, to criticise or condemn. I say it because that is what I’ve observed, what I have at times experienced through interaction with other Christians, and have sometimes seen in my own life, and so I point the finger at myself as well.

We are not all of us enjoying life. We are waiting for better times. Waiting for breakthroughs. Waiting for something-or-the-other!

Unfortunately, that wait can extend into years, decades and possibly for ever!

Why does this happen?

I believe it’s because we have unrealistic expectations! Because we have deluded ourselves or been deceived by the Enemy, into thinking that a good life, an enjoyable life is one devoid of problems; a life free from trials and tribulations, an idealistic life that is always self-gratifying.

We think this because we have a God for whom nothing is impossible. We think this because we believe and know he is a miracle-working God. We think this because we are aware that God loves us unconditionally and has declared that we are blessed.

So, if this is the case, why should we encounter defeat or difficulties? Why should we tolerate a situation where it seems God has allowed LIFE to kick away our carefully laid plans and cherished dreams? Why shouldn’t we expect the Godhead and the heavenly hosts of angels to come to our rescue the moment we cry out?

Why?

And whilst we wonder and take umbrage, or secretly sulk because our lives didn’t turn out to be the pretty, problem-free packages we’d ordered, or our prayers weren’t answered according to our schedule, or our undesirable circumstances magically and permanently resolved, we choose to forget that Jesus warned: “…in me you will have peace. In the world you will have tribulation” (John 16:33).

We choose to forget that Peter said: “Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you” (1 Peter 4:12).

We choose to forget that Paul described his experience as a servant of God in the following terms: “…being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure; being defamed, we entreat. We are made as the filth of the world, the off-scouring of all things until now” (1 Corinthians 12-13).

Perhaps being brought up on a diet of “happy ever after” fairy tales, or vicariously engaging with the ideal life of Hollywood movies, or emotionally subscribing to romantic scenarios in novels, became a contributing factor to our unrealistic expectations.

We conveniently forget that even in such stories, there are conflicts, or an adversary that needs to be overcome first—before the happy ending is revealed!

And as Christians, of course we’ve read about the destiny of God’s people. We’ve read about God’s promise of a bright, blissful future. We’ve even perhaps responded to an altar-call which promised: when you come to Jesus, everything will be all right!

Then, two months, two years, two decades down the line, we are still waiting for everything to be all right, for all our problems to magically disappear for ever, for life to become absolutely amazing, to be one unadulterated high of blessing and favour and success—but until that happens, we feel we can’t actually enjoy life as it is now, with all its fretful, stressful queries, concerns and frustrations.

We enjoy life’s ups but not its downs. We enjoy the highs of our relationship with God but not the lows. We respond to personal circumstances according to the dictates of our thoughts and emotions, rather than the directions of God’s Word. And so, in the final analysis, no—we are not enjoying every-day life!

Dear reader, please understand me. I am not advocating that we go around as a “happy-clappy” bunch of people pretending all is well, if clearly that’s not the case.

I am however, wanting to draw your attention to the fact that when you examine Jesus’ words to the seven churches in Revelation, he clearly indicates that the promise of a future destiny in the new heaven and the new earth, the promise of a pain-free, problem free life, will be the reward of those who overcome.

Now that word (overcome), tells us right there that we are bound to face circumstances where not everything-in-the-garden-will-be-green-and-rosy. And, if that were not the case, how will we learn to overcome? What challenge will there be to overcome?

Dear reader, even God’s dream of a wonderful, harmonious world in which he enjoys a rich relationship with set-apart individuals, who’d commit to him and lovingly obey him, was (and continues to be) thwarted again and again. Not just for a few years. Not just for several decades. But for centuries!

We see evidence of this thwarted dream again and again throughout the entire Bible. We see it with Adam and Eve. We see it with Sodom and Gomorrah and the antediluvian world.

We see it with God’s own chosen people, the Children of Israel. We see it with the Pharisees, Scribes and Sadducees, who were meant to be waiting for the promised Messiah. And sadly, we see it at times in our own lives.

It is only when we come to the book of Revelation and read about the end of this present world, as we currently know it, that we’re given a prophetic picture of an era when God finally achieves his dream of a devoted, holy and worshipping community within the context of a happy, harmonious world, free from Satan’s diabolical influence.

Meanwhile, dear ones, God has chosen to enjoy us NOW as his children, as his heirs, as his precious Son’s disciples, even though we often fail to measure up to his ideal.

Now if God can do that for us, can we not do the same for him? Can we not use his precious spiritual resources, the benefits of our salvation package and the promise of a brighter future, of an eternal destiny in his glorious presence (where we’ll enjoy the beauty and perfection of his re-created world)—can we not use these factors to enjoy him NOW, enjoy the position to which we’ve been elevated, even enjoy our every-day lives regardless of the battles we face, knowing our victory is guaranteed, knowing our eternal destiny with Him is assured?

Should we not practice and consolidate an attitude of joy now, so we are in good stead for that time which is to come when Jesus himself will welcome us and usher us into his presence, where he will bid us to “…enter into the joy of your Lord”? (Matthew 25:21, 23).

Dear Women of Warfare followers and visitors, I’m convinced that this is God’s heart for you and for me and therefore this is my heart’s desire for you and for myself.

Let’s make a decision today that throughout this year and beyond, we will ENJOY our relationship with our Father-God and ENJOY life. Yes, let’s determine in our hearts to enjoy our redeemed status and enjoy the life for which Christ paid so very high a price.

And if you are looking for ideas on how to enjoy life more, check out the link.

With love and best wishes,

Carol

(aka Lady Cee) ♥♥

 

This Week’s Prayer Focus:

Let’s focus our thoughts on what God has done for us – not on those issues where we feel let down, or disappointed, or even sceptical towards God because he hasn’t come through with what we wanted, or has not chosen to act within our expected time-frame.

Let’s pray for one another that we will embrace a new attitude of gratitude… that we will reflect upon, remember and rejoice over the fact that Jesus willingly sacrificed his life for us, so we may enjoy an abundant and liberated life.

And, my dear friends, before entering the battlefield of prayer, please don’t forget to put on your spiritual armour.

 

PRAYER:

Father God,

As King David so accurately observed:

What is man that You are mindful of him

Or the son of man that You take care of him?

 And I would add: Who am I that you should choose to adopt me, care for me and cherish a relationship with me? I am both humbled and grateful.

Father-God, my heart’s desire is to glorify you and to enjoy you in my every-day life.

I thank you for setting me apart for your service. I thank you for all that you’ve freely bestowed upon my life, so that I might enjoy the benefits and liberty of your kingdom.

Father-God, help me to focus on what you have done for me—not on what you haven’t! Help me to enjoy life as you meant me to enjoy it. And help me to honour you with the things I habitually say, think and do.

Lord God, may all those who examine me, see a good, great and gracious God who provides for, protects and promotes me. May I in turn, showcase a godly confidence and strength of character, as a result of me walking in the ‘Fear of the Lord’.

Cause me to maintain my confession of faith and to exhibit an uncompromising commitment to pursuing my destiny in Christ. By the enabling power of your Holy Spirit, touch me afresh, so I may experience an increasing fervour for the things pertaining to your kingdom.

Father God, send forth your precious Holy Spirit to embrace and comfort those amongst my visiting readers and also those within our individual spheres of influence, who are depressed or discouraged, who mourn for whatever reason, who are disillusioned with life.

Heal the hearts and hurts of those who’ve become embittered. Strengthen those who are emotionally or spiritually weak. Cause the joy of the Lord to become their source of strength. May inexplicable peace saturate their souls and may godly hope revive their dreams and expectations and act as a spiritual anchor for their souls.

I ask this in Jesus’ precious name. Amen.

© Carol Hind

 

Women of Warfare followers and visitors be blessed and enjoy this coming week!

 

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Sunday’s Supplications

Sunday’s Supplications invites you to not only read the posts but also participate in the prayers. Each fortnight, I hope to introduce a new theme and prayer focus. Why not become a part of the WoW! community by participating in these prayers? Let’s pray for ourselves and for each other. Let’s obey God’s command to watch and pray for all the saints (Ephesians 6:18)

Please note, you do not have to be a blogger to join this praying community.

 

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CREDIT: The above CC0 Image comes courtesy of Pixabay.com

A Glorious Perspective

 

 

Everybody born comes from the Creator trailing wisps of glory. We come from the Creator with creativity. I think that each one of us is born with creativity.

Maya Angelou

 

What a powerful statement and observation from Maya Angelou!

Well, here’s another, which I declare today with faith and in boldness.

I am God’s masterpiece!

This fact makes me special in his eyes.

Now who creates something of beauty, purpose or worth and then doesn’t feel proud of their achievement? Who utilises their gift, their creative ability and then doesn’t feel any satisfaction about what they’ve created?

No one!  Unless you are a mega-obsessive perfectionist. Which is certainly not me!  How about you?

 

The Eye of My Beholder

Well, God is no different. I have the book of Genesis to verify that. Whenever God created anything, he declared that it was good. Very good. He was pleased with his efforts. So I have a pretty good idea that since God is the one who created me, then he was (and still is) pleased with his creative masterpiece. And His pronouncement over me—that I am good, i.e. fit for purpose, beneficial and worthy—still stands.

Dear reader, aren’t we the same?

Don’t we feel a sense of pride and satisfaction whenever we have created something? I know I do. When I’ve written an article, short story or blog post, when I’ve made an outfit, or some item of home furnishing, when I’ve cooked a delicious meal or baked a moist, moreish cake – I’m usually pleased with the result. Mega-pleased! And this is particularly so when I create something using my God-given abilities.

 

Seeing Self from God’s Perspective

Let me reiterate.

I am God’s masterpiece!

The King James’ Bible puts it this way:

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

(Ephesians 2:10 NKJV)

The Greek word for “workmanship” is poiema. We are therefore God’s poem or poetic masterpiece.

Isn’t that precious?

I wonder what difference it would make to our self-esteem, to the way we live our lives, if we were to truly embrace this concept and see ourselves as valuable works of art?

Now unlike the owners of priceless art collections, God doesn’t hide us away. He’s not afraid to show us off, to share us with others. In fact, as the above scripture clearly reveals, he has created us for good works, so we can be of benefit and a blessing to others.

So the question is: are we living up to his expectations?

I am his poem. In his sight, I am perfect. Beautiful. A wonderful creation. And I bring him pleasure. Furthermore, I have the capacity to bring him more pleasure when I glorify him.

 

A Glorious Perspective

To glorify God is to showcase his splendour, majesty and might. And I glorify him when I live up to his expectations. I glorify him when I create and when I share my creative ability with others. I glorify him when I recognise and act as the person whom he created and called me to be—a dynamic believer, an obedient child of God, a committed disciple of Christ, a purpose-driven achiever and a victorious overcomer.

Dear reader, cast your mind back and reflect on your experiences to date. Haven’t you enjoyed and taken pleasure in different aspects of God’s creation—the beauty of various landscapes, the abundance of this world’s marvellous fauna and flora, the magic and wonder of the universe and the awe-inspiring features of our creator’s glorious handiwork, such as volcanic mountains or magnificent waterfalls?

And haven’t you appreciated and taken similar pleasure in the creativity of others—such as a beautifully sung song, such as a gorgeously fashioned item of clothing, such as well-written books, created for pleasure, for education, for personal development?

I am God’s creative masterpiece.

As I reflect upon this wonderful truth, I realise that I’ve robbed people by failing to write in the past.

Just think! If I’d been diligent, discerning and disciplined enough in years gone by, if I’d written faithfully over the past decades or so, if I’d consistently written books and articles and teaching materials, many people could be benefitting from those works today.

But I didn’t.

And so, I robbed not only myself of the pleasure of creation and the satisfaction of serving others but I robbed God of opportunities to showcase his glory. And I robbed people of the pleasure and benefit they could have enjoyed and experienced had I developed my potential, had I indulged and explored my creativity, had I shared my gifting.

Wow! What an eye opener.

I am truly sorry God.

And my recent epiphany, this startling revelation, makes me even more determined to do better in the future—to acquire the necessary discipline and be diligent in seeking to maximise my potential. It makes me even more desirous to live my best life. To serve others. To glorify God.

 

Re-affirming Your Worth

I say it again with absolute conviction. With awe. With wonder. With a new sense of responsibility.

I am God’s poetic masterpiece.

I am valuable. I have the capacity to bring pleasure to others. To share of that which God has invested within me, in order to encourage, educate and equip. In order to make diminutive, ravaged or unfulfilled lives bigger, better, richer.

Dear reader, you too are God’s creative masterpiece. You too have been created to bring him glory. Is that your aim and desire in life? Are you seeking to be the best YOU, you can possibly be? Are you seeking to develop and grow, to avail yourself of God’s spiritual resources, so you can arise and shine and radiate the glory of God?

Have you determined in your heart to reign over your circumstances, to walk victoriously in life, to enjoy your status as God’s creative masterpiece?

All around us we see, experience and enjoy the fruit of our Father-God’s creative endeavours. Can we look at our own lives and say the same about ourselves?

Are we creating an atmosphere of joy, peace and harmony in our homes? Are we creating the beauty of unity in our relationships, work situations and church fellowships? Are we using our abilities, knowledge, skills and talent for the betterment of others? And if, or when we are, are we seeking self-glory or God’s glory?

 

Life’s daily challenge

My dear followers and visitors, today and every day, we are given a fresh opportunity to use the creative power of God’s Word to transform ourselves, our lives and the environment within our own sphere of influence… to call forth light, abundance and fruitfulness… to sow seeds of blessing… to minister to the pressing needs of our fellow-human beings.

The challenge is, are we seeing from God’s perspective? Do we care enough to act, to create, to exercise dominion, to reproduce, to showcase his glory?

There are only two people who know the answers to these searching questions—you dear reader, and God!

 

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CREDIT: The above CCO image comes courtesy of Pixabay.com

 

 

Prayer Gem 14

An Appointment With God

 

…prayer—for any of us—can start out as simply an obedient appointment, an act of discipline, showing up in that prayer closet because it’s the appointed time that we said we’d be there.

(From: FERVENT by Priscilla Shirer)

 

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Question:

Have you sent Jesus your knee-mail today?

 

 

CREDIT: The above CCO image comes courtesy of Gerd Altmann at Pixabay.com

 

 

You Can Make It!

 

Will 2018 be the year your life changes?

Will it be the year you experience a miraculous turn around?

Will 2018 see you go from strength to strength and from victory to victory?

As we move into the second quarter of this year how are you progressing so far?

Women of Warfare followers and visitors – if you can take it, then you can make it!

If you can take the disappointments and disapproval, if you can ignore the  naysayers and dream-slayers, if you can overcome historical fears and failures, then you can make it!

The Word of God says:

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Philippians 4:13 NKJV)

What say you?

—–oooooo000oooooo—–

 

Lest I Forget!

Lest I forget Gethsemane,

Lest I forget Thine agony;

Lest I forget Thy love for me,

Lead me to Calvary.

(Taken from the hymn “Lead Me To Calvary” by Jennie E. Hussey – 1921)

 

 Friends and followers – I wish you a happy Easter!

 

CREDIT: the above CCO image comes courtesy of Pixabay.com

 

May I wash your feet?

Hello visiting friends and followers,

Given that this blog is celebrating an Easter theme this week, I’d like to share a post originally written for my other blog – A Purpose-driven achiever.
Best wishes,

Carol ♥♥
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A Purpose-driven achiever

Image from Benno Oosterom – Pixabay.com

Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God, rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself.

After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’  feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.

John 13:3-5 (NKJ)

In recent weeks we’ve been looking at life metaphors. One of mine is that life is a journey. I believe most of you would agree with me that we are all on a journey of some kind—a journey towards our dreams and aspirations, towards God’s purpose for our lives and ultimately towards our eternal destiny.

In biblical times it was the custom for hosts to wash the dust and grime from the feet of…

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Spring Has Arrived – Twice!

 

The beautiful spring came; and when Nature resumes her loveliness, the human soul is apt to revive also.

Harriet Ann Jacobs

 

Because there seemed to be a difference of opinion about the official start of Spring, I decided to do a little research on the matter.

I discovered that there are two perspectives.

If you took the meteorological view, Spring starts in accordance with the Gregorian calendar – i.e. on 1 March each year.

But if you go with the astronomical viewpoint then the start of Spring occurs when an equinox takes place. This changes each year but usually falls on either the 19, 20, or 21 of March.

I’m not particularly bothered either way. In fact, being greedy, I’m happy to embrace both perspectives!

However, what I do love about, and take from my recent discovery is this—there is more than one opportunity to welcome Spring into our lives.

And so, in a metaphorical sense, I’m opening my heart, my life to the season of Spring. I’m inviting the Holy Spirit to come and bring freshness, growth and an abundance of fruit.

Spring, you are welcome!

Come burst into our lives with blossom and buds, soft showers and sunshine.

 

QUESTION:

Are you welcoming a new season of Spring? Are you preparing for and expecting spiritual growth?

 

 

CREDIT: the above CCO image comes courtesy of Hans Braxmeier of Pixabay.com

 

Encouragement for your journey (3)

Success is a journey – not a destination!

 

Hello my journey-friends,

21 days ago, we welcomed in a brand New Year.

21 days ago, we entered into this New Year with a sense of anticipation.

21 days ago, we looked back at the previous year and assessed whether or not we’d experienced a year of achievement, success and victory, or fatigue, failure and frustration.

21 days ago, you and I had a choice—do we enter into the New Year with baggage from the old one, or do we let go of our debilitating fears and weaknesses and face the challenges and opportunities ahead with faith and determination?

How are you doing so far?

Here’s a short motivational video that I trust will encourage you to keep going, despite any doubts, disappointments or discouragement.

Fellow journey-ers, may 2018 be a year of significant breakthrough for you. May 2018 be your year!

  

 

 

Women of Warfare friends and followers, have a blessed week!

With love and best wishes,

 Carol

 

CREDIT: The above CC0 image comes courtesy of Pixabay.com

 

Remember Your First Love?

 

 

Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love (Revelation 2:4 NKJV)

 

Draw near to God and He will draw near to you (James 4:8a NKJV)

 

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him, and dine with him, and he with Me (Revelations 3:20 NKJV)

 

____________

 

Do you remember the first time you landed that job? Or the first time you were given a responsible role? Or the first time you met your spouse?

Do you remember how excited you were? How committed you were to doing your utmost best? How full of zeal and excitement and plans? Do you remember how you could not stop talking about it, telling others about what you’ve accomplished, or sharing the good news about what has happened to you?

Now cast your mind back to how you felt when you first invited the Lord Jesus Christ to take control of your life. Do you recall your fervour… that incredible feeling of love, joy and gratitude? Well, that’s what is referred to as ‘your first love’ in the above quote.

When you consider how motivated you were then to loving and pleasing God, and measure this against your relationship with him now, how does it compare? Have you cooled down? Become lukewarm, or cold, or completely indifferent?

Once the novelty of a relationship wears off, if we want it to flourish, then we jolly well have to work at it! Neglected relationships deteriorate. As in the natural, so with the spiritual.

We can find ourselves failing to pay full attention to the things of God. We can allow the monotony and minutiae of life to distract us. We can become preoccupied with our daily struggles, disappointments, or desires. And after a while, as the demands of spouse, family, work, social circles and even church life overwhelm us, we may unconsciously, or deliberately, push God to the back burner of our lives.

Yep – He’s right there  – in the background! Of course we love him. Of course we’re “committed” to him. And of course, we’ll certainly call upon him when trouble arises. But once the crisis is over, to the back burner he returns. Instead of Jesus being our consort, he becomes a convenience.

Dear reader,

Dear child of God,

Dear friend or follower,

If we are to make it as a victorious overcomer throughout 2018, then our relationship with God cannot be secondary. It needs to be a priority. And even if you feel your spiritual life is somewhat satisfactory, there is always room for improvement.

If we want to enjoy a notable year of spiritual growth, satisfaction and triumph, then it is imperative that we connect with and stay connected to the three members of the Godhead – our Heavenly Father, His precious Son Jesus, and the Holy Ghost.

So this year, resolve to draw closer to God. Resolve to make seeking God’s face an absolute priority.

 

This Week’s Prayer Focus:

Let’s pray for ourselves as individuals and for the corporate Body of Christ, that we will develop an ever increasing passion for his presence… that we will pursue a closer, deeper and stronger relationship with him.

 

PRAYER:

Father God,

You are worthy of all praise, glory and honour.

What a privilege you have bestowed upon each member of the Body of Christ by adopting us into your family. Thank you for your unconditional love and faithfulness. Forgive us for the many times that we’ve allowed other things to take pre-eminence in our lives.

Father, your Word says that when we draw closer to you, then you will draw closer to us. Honour your promise today. As we seek a closer connection with you and the other members of the Godhead, cause our souls to hunger and thirst for you. Draw us to yourself with unbreakable cords of love. Entwine our hearts into a deeper, richer relationship with you.

Lord God, may we experience an assurance of mind, which enables us to declare (like Paul), that neither tribulation nor distress, persecution or peril, nakedness or famine, will separate us from your love.  And may we, like the psalmist, seek your face and require the manifestation of your awesome presence within our lives, as a vital necessity. May we love you the way you deserve, and as your Word commands—with all of our heart, all of our mind and all of our strength.

We ask this in faith and in the matchless name of Jesus. Amen.

© Carol Hind

 

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Sunday’s Supplications

Sunday’s Supplications invites you to not only read the posts but also participate in the prayers. Each fortnight, I hope to introduce a new theme and prayer focus. You are welcome to print off and use each prayer provided, either verbatim or adapted for your particular circumstance. Even better, you can construct your own prayer and share with others by linking to this post. Please note, you do not have to be a blogger to participate.

 

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Women of Warfare followers and visitors have a blessed and victorious week!

 

 

Happy New Year! – 2018

 

My heartfelt thanks to all followers and readers for supporting me with your visits, comments and likes.  It has truly been a blessing and an honour to share my thoughts with you. 

Wishing you all God’s very best and I look forward to the pleasure of your visits throughout the coming year.

Love from,

Carol

 

 

New Beginnings…

“As the year comes to a close, it is a time for reflection – a time to release old thoughts and beliefs and forgive old hurts. Whatever has happened in the past year, the New Year brings fresh beginnings. Exciting new experiences and relationships await. Let us be thankful for the blessings of the past and the promise of the future.”
― Peggy Toney Horton

 

For years, decades even, I could not let go of the malicious things people said and did to me. Believe me when I say, I was not being totally paranoid. I had people in my life who’d decided they were going to systematically target me and undermine my self-esteem, my reputation, relationships and career prospects.

Christian or not, when such spiteful and unwarranted behaviour continues from day to day, week to week, month to month, even year to year, it can take its toll on your character, on your relationship with God or others and, on your ability to grow and develop as an individual, as a disciple of Christ.  It can even take its toll on your ability to enjoy every-day life.

As the years clocked by, I allowed these people to get into my head. I allowed bitterness to take root in my heart and I allowed resentment to influence my actions. I became a victim.

It was only when I suddenly woke up to the fact that if God loves me unconditionally, cares about me and has complete control (which I did believe), and that if God is omniscient and therefore aware of my predicament and the actions of those perpetrators (which I had no doubt that He is and was aware), then my Father God must be allowing the circumstances—and if He is allowing it, then it is for a reason.

My choice at that point was to either submit my will to His, or rebel against it. Submitting would demonstrate to both God and Satan that my frequent prayer: “not my will Lord God but Your will be done, in and through my life” was not just an empty platitude.

It took much fretting, agonising and dying to self before I understood that God was not going to respond to my complaints, or cries of outrage, or bargaining, or unhappiness. I finally had to accept that my Father God responds only to faith and obedience.

Now, I’m not saying that I’ve arrived, or that I’m perfect (far from it!). However, I can now confidently declare that I no longer see myself as a victim. I can humbly testify that my predicament gave me ample opportunities to make mature choices, appropriate God’s strength, use his spiritual weapons and learn to walk in life as a victorious overcomer.

I share this post, having been inspired by today’s devotional reading, which focused on the following verse of scripture:

…forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal…

(Philippians 3:13 NKJV)

 

Dear fellow-believer,

Dear precious woman of God,

Dear WoW follower or visitor,

We are at the threshold of a brand new year.

And so dear reader, as you enter 2018, where applicable, may I encourage you to leave behind any disappointments, failings, grudges or other victim behaviour from your past?

May I encourage you to enter into this New Year with a godly resolve to be the best person you can be as a new creation in Christ?

May I encourage you dear Child of God to appropriate and live the best life (i.e. the God-quality type of life) that you possibly can, so you may be that bright spiritual light, that sanctified dispenser of salt, that God-glorifying and victorious overcomer, you have been called to be?

 

This Week’s Prayer Focus:

Let’s pray for the New Year ahead and the fresh opportunities it brings to walk in a manner that pleases God, to grow in our knowledge of and relationship with him and, to enjoy our every-day lives.

 

PRAYER:

Loving Father God,

I want to praise and thank you for your goodness, mercies and blessings throughout this current year.

Thank you for keeping both me and my loved ones safe from harm, danger and evil. Thank you for supplying my daily needs. I ask that you keep me ever appreciative of your divine presence, protection and provision. May I never take my salvation for granted, or squander the priceless privilege, which you have granted to me as your heir.

Lord God, you already know what 2018 has in store for me. I choose to enter this year with an expectation that whatever I face, you have given me the ability to reign in my circumstances through Christ, who strengthens me. You have given me the spiritual resources to emerge as a victorious overcomer.

I commit my dreams, goals and vision into your hands. Your Word advises me to commit my works to the Lord and to acknowledge you in all my ways, so that you may direct my paths. I therefore do so in faith and with confidence that throughout this new year, you will cause all things (both good and bad), to work together for my advancement and welfare.

Lord Jesus, I want to thank you that you ever live to make intercession for me and I thank you for being a faithful high priest. As I offer my life as a daily sacrifice and in service to my Father God, I ask that you make it acceptable in His sight. I ask that you cause my accomplishments, worship and prayers to rise as sweet incense before God’s presence.

Holy Spirit, I acknowledge my need of you and therefore call upon you. Enable and empower me to walk in agreement with God’s Word and in obedience to His will. Fill me afresh with your anointed presence each new day. Fill me with the peace of God that transcends natural understanding. Fill me with the wisdom of God, so that I know what to do, how and when to do it. Give me ears to hear and understand my Father God’s guidance and direction. Help me to recognise His voice, to differentiate between what He is saying, what the Enemy implies and accuses, or what my selfish instincts dictate.

Father God, thank you for hearing my prayer today. I believe you’ve heard me and because I have asked in faith and have prayed in the name of your Son, Jesus, I am confident that you will grant my request. Amen.

© Carol Hind

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Sunday’s Supplications

Sunday’s Supplications invites you to not only read the posts but also participate in the prayers. Each fortnight, I hope to introduce a new theme and prayer focus. You are welcome to print off and use each prayer provided, either verbatim or adapted for your particular circumstance. Even better, you can construct your own prayer and share with others by linking to this post. Please note, you do not have to be a blogger to participate.

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Women of Warfare followers and readers I wish you a successful and triumphant year, filled with God’s abundant blessings and perpetual favour.

Have a wonderful week!

 

CREDIT: The above CC0 images come courtesy of Pixabay.com

 

Prayer Gem 12

 

• PRAYER is a mountain – climb it!

 

• PRAYER is a discipline – work at it!

 

• PRAYER is a weapon – use it!

 

Have you sent Jesus your knee-mail today?

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CREDIT: The above image comes courtesy of Pixabay.com

 

 

Quotes of my heart — Manić Teodora

And don’t forget.. You are so much loved.

viau Quotes of my heart — Manić Teodora

 

To every WoW! follower and reader,

I wish you an exceedingly blessed day and weekend.

And to all those who may be hurting, crushed by circumstances, disappointed over dashed dreams, confused about their faith, I pray the love of God will be revealed afresh to you, the intercession of Christ will bring release and liberty and the comfort of His Holy Spirit will minister grace and hope for your future. Amen.

Friends, followers, forlorn ones – you are loved unconditionally! 💖

I hope these quotes will bless and encourage you.

💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖

 

CREDIT: CC0 image comes courtesy of Pixabay.com

 

 

 

You are not a victim!

Today I saw a youtube video that called to mind Peter’s stark warning to all Christians. He said:

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour

(1 Peter 5:8 KJV)

But praise God! We need not fear.

This is the video which inspired today’s post.

 

Granted our personal situation may not be as dramatic and heart-stopping as the baby bear’s but we would do well to take heed of Peter’s warning in the quote above.

Thank God that should we fail to be vigilant, should we feel our circumstances have us hopelessly cornered, when we have the presence of mind to cry out for help, or we seek to stand our ground against the Enemy, our Heavenly Father is quick to respond.

So remember dear Women of Warfare followers and readers, whether you are the target of relentless opposition, or whatever difficulties you may be facing – you are not a victim!

 

 

Press into Passion

 

Last week, we looked at the heart-breaking truth of people who for some reason cannot accept the reality of God, yet desperately wish they could. We learned through the testimony of one man that there are agnostics who wish they could believe, who wish they could experience the comfort and confidence that our faith in God provides.

Which brings me to today’s theme.

Often, as Christians, we can take our faith, our salvation for granted. Sometimes we fail to appreciate what we have.

Relationships take hard work. We know this from our own experience with others—whether it’s a family member, a partner, a work colleague, a neighbour. And so when it comes to our relationship with God, things are no different. We have to work at it!

Now the Bible reminds us that sometimes we can allow affection for God and our commitment to things relating to his kingdom, to slide. Other things get in the way. Other things become a priority.

In Revelation 3:14-22 we read that the Laodicean church received a grave warning. They’d become blasé and lukewarm about their faith and their walk with God. Not cold. Not hot. Lukewarm. And God was having none of it.

Priscilla Shirer in her excellent book Fervent  suggests that stealing our passion for God is a deliberate tactic of Satan. She says when our passion dims, our resistance to temptation is lowered, whilst our discouragement levels heighten. When passion dims, our faith in God is weakened.

Again, if you’ve ever read though the entire Bible, you will be aware that there were instances in the history of the Children of Israel when they served God with all their heart. But there were also times when they allowed themselves to be drawn away from their vows of adoration, commitment and faith. Despite all the miracles they witnessed. Despite all the victories they experienced. Despite the many instances of God’s miraculous provision.

And so we can see clearly that even though we are committed, born-again Christians, as human beings, we are prone to making the same mistakes as the Children of Israel and members of the Laodicean church.

So let me ask, where are you in this regard? When you look back to the days when you first committed your life to Christ and compare it to now, has your love for God increased, or diminished?

If the latter, recognise that whilst you do have a responsibility for where you are at in your relationship with God, you also have an Enemy, who is actively seeking to break your focus, undermine your faith, and sabotage your relationship with the Lord.

So, what should you and I do when we examine our lives and note we are not where we should be in terms of our relationship with God?

We should:

• Recognise
• Resist
• Re-connect

Recognise our state. Recognise the danger.

Resist the Enemy. Resist our own petty inclinations.

Re-connect to God. Reconnect with the spiritual resources and godly people, which help to fuel our passion for the Lord.

Dear believer, there are people out there who envy what you have in terms of your relationship with God—so cherish it, nurture it, celebrate it!

 

This Week’s Prayer Focus:

For ourselves. For our brothers and sisters in Christ. That depending on where we are in our relationship with God, our passion will increase, or be rekindled.

 

Father God,

I am so thankful that you are who you are. I am thankful that you are an unchanging God and that your love for me is everlasting and unconditional. You deserve that I reciprocate this love.

I want to obey your command and love you with all of my heart, mind, soul and strength. Forgive me for the times when I fail to do so. Forgive me for the times when I allow other things, other people to take first place in my life. Help me to recognise quickly when my commitment to you has waned, and whenever this happens, create a fervent desire within me to rectify this.

Father God, I recognise that I cannot maintain my passion for you, for the things pertaining to your kingdom, in my own strength and ability. It is you who works within me to both will and fulfil your good pleasure, satisfaction and delight.

Lord God, I don’t want to be cold. I certainly don’t want to be lukewarm. Help me to emulate those people in the Bible such as King David, or St. Paul, whose passion for you and commitment to your purpose remained constant.

Heavenly Father, just as I pray for myself, I wish to pray for my brothers and sisters in Christ, particularly those amongst my readership. I ask that you create within them a strong, steadfast spirit. I ask that you open their eyes, so that they may see and recognise every attempt by the Enemy to sabotage their faith in, and relationship with, you. I ask that you grant them the ability and the tenacity to resist Satan’s tactics within and against their lives.

Father God, if disappointment, discouragement, disillusionment, or disinterest has set in, I ask right now that you break through the lies and false accusations of the Enemy and enable those affected to refocus their thoughts upon the truths of your Word. I ask that you minister hope, assurance, comfort and peace to their souls. I ask that you renew the passion and commitment they once enjoyed. I ask that you both remind and influence them to wear their spiritual armour, so that they can protect themselves from the fiery darts of the Enemy.

Father God, we thank you for your daily mercies and ongoing patience. May we be ever grateful to you for your goodness and loving-kindness and may we not take your grace and our salvation for granted.

In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

© Carol Hind

 

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Sunday’s Supplications

Sunday’s Supplications invites you to not only read the posts but also participate in the prayers. Each week, I hope to introduce a new theme and prayer focus. You are welcome to print off and use each prayer provided, either verbatim or adapted for your particular circumstance. Even better, you can construct your own prayer and share with others by linking to this post. Please note, you do not have to be a blogger to participate.

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Women of Warfare followers and readers have a wonderful week!

 

CREDIT: The above CC0 image comes courtesy of Gordon Johnson at Pixabay.com

The Sore Need for Compassion

 

Dear believer,

Are you not grateful that in these troubled times, these days of uncertainty, God, your God, the immortal and all-wise God is a prominent feature in your life?

Are you not happy that in these times of change, the one who never changes is a permanent feature of your life?

Are you not relieved that whatever you may face in your personal life, or as a citizen of this troubled world, there is someone to whom you can turn with absolute confidence, knowing that whatever life throws at you (the good, the bad, the downright devastating and ugly), God is in control and he can cause all things to work together for your good, your benefit, your welfare?

I have had thoughts like these over recent years when facing sickness, opposition, family discord, job uncertainty—and I can confidently declare that God has come through for me and my loved ones, again and again, and again!

There is no doubt in my mind that we serve an awesome God, a God who is a very present help in the time of trouble, a God who is not deaf towards our pleas for help or reassurance, a God who makes all things beautiful in our lives, within his timing (Ecclesiastes 3:11).

But what of those who don’t have this? What of those who don’t know where or to whom they may turn? Who even if they seek assistance from the arm of flesh in the way of counsellors, family and loved ones, hypnotists, psychiatrists and psychics, they soon discover these to be inadequate, insufficiently robust, indeed lacking the required omniscience to be able to offer lasting solutions, permanent inner peace, or suitable and specific direction?

What of those who do not know God? Who may have heard about him but denied him, dismissed him, even dissed him?

What of those who have been caught up in a diabolical maelstrom of disbelief or unbelief, of deception, cynicism and scepticism?

This weekend I read a passage taken from UCB Word for Today* (a devotional resource, which I highly recommend!), which touched and grieved my heart.

I felt compassion for those who for whatever reason have rejected God, but at the same time I felt grieved over the influence of the Enemy within their hearts, who keeps them from recognising and reaching out for the very thing that could transform their lives and grant them the security, peace and confidence their heart so craves.

The passage of which I speak, runs as follows:

Writer and editorialist W. O. Saunders said in American Magazine: ‘I’d like to introduce you to one of the loneliest and unhappiest individuals on earth… the man who doesn’t believe in God. I can introduce you to such a man because I myself am one, and in introducing myself you shall have an introduction to the agnostic or sceptic in your own neighbourhood, for he is everywhere in the land. You’ll be surprised to know that the agnostic envies your faith in God, your settled belief in a heaven after life, and your blessed assurance that you’ll meet with your loved ones in an afterlife where there’ll be neither sadness nor pain. He’d give anything to be able to embrace that faith and be comforted by it, but for him there is only the grave and the persistence of matter. After the grave all he can see is the disintegration of the protoplasm and psychoplasm of which my body and personality are composed, but in this materialistic view, I find neither ecstasy nor happiness… He may put on a brave front but he isn’t happy… He sometimes yearns for a staff to lean on. He, too, carries a cross. For him, this earth is but a tricky raft adrift in the unfathomable waters of eternity with no horizon in sight. His heart aches for every precious life upon the raft – drifting, drifting, drifting, whither no one knows.’

 

Dear reader, what a position to be in. Does your heart not go out to him and others like him?

Do you appreciate the fact that if it were not for the grace of God, we would have remained in a similar situation regarding unbelief, we would have shared a similar fate regarding the inability to accept God’s free gift of salvation?

Oh dear believer in Christ, dear women of warfare, may the compassion of God grip your heart for the hopelessness and helplessness of those such as the man in the passage above.

Let us pray.

 

This Week’s Prayer Focus:

Can we turn our hearts this week towards those individuals within the circle of our influence, who are like the man that speaks in the passage above? Let’s turn our hearts in compassion towards those who are lost, who do not know God, who are seeking resolutions to seemingly insurmountable problems, who long for peace of mind, who require sound direction for their lives.

(And please, do remember to protect yourselves by putting on your spiritual armour before entering the battlefield of prayer!)

 

Father God,

Your Word declares that it is not your intention for anyone to perish. It also tells me that whomsoever wills, yea whomsoever believes, may come to you through Christ and experience the benefits of salvation—forgiveness, restoration, peace and wholeness.

I want to lift up towards you those within the circle of our influence who feel that the gospel is foolishness, who believe that death is the end and the idea of heaven and hell is ridiculous, who scoff at the notion of eternal life or eternal damnation.

Father God, I know that such individuals have been deceived by the lying influence of Satan. I am also aware that it is only through your goodness and mercy that men will be drawn to a place of godly sorrow and true repentance.

Father God, let not the evil will of the Enemy prevail within and against the lives of such men, women and youths. I ask that you turn their hearts away from unbelief, cynicism and scepticism. I ask that you draw such men, women and youths toward you with your gentle cords of love. I ask that you cause the glorious light of your gospel to illuminate their minds, hearts and understanding. Have mercy dear Lord upon those who are honestly seeking the truth and deliver them from sin, selfishness and spiritual blindness.

Holy Spirit, hover over their lives. Bring clarity, order and light where there is confusion, chaos and darkness. Soften those hearts. Remove any spiritual calluses caused by self-sufficiency, intellectualism, worldly knowledge and experience. Break down those barriers erected through stubborn and rebellious attitudes. And to those who respond in genuine humility to your salvation call, I ask that you minister assurance and hope as they take their place amongst their fellow-heirs of salvation. Envelop and keep them within the safety of your abiding presence.

Father God, thank you for hearing our prayers and granting our requests, which we ask in faith and in the matchless, mighty name of your son, Jesus. Amen.

© Carol Hind

 

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Sunday’s Supplications

Sunday’s Supplications invites you to not only read the posts but also participate in the prayers. Each week, I hope to introduce a new theme and prayer focus. You are welcome to print off and use each prayer provided, either verbatim or adapted for your particular circumstance. Even better, you can construct your own prayer and share with others by linking to this post. Please note, you do not have to be a blogger to participate.

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Women of Warfare followers and visitors, throughout this coming week may you experience in an increasing measure, the compassion of God and an unshakeable confidence in him.

 

*Free postal copies of UCB Word For Today (UK and Republic of Ireland only) are available from: FREEPOST RLTX-ABUL-GRAR, United Christian Broadcasters, Westport Road, Stoke-on-Trent, ST6 4JF

For the online version visit here

CREDIT: the above CC0 image comes courtesy of Pixabay.com

Fear or Faith? – Where’s Your Focus?

 

⁴For since the beginning of the world

Men have not heard nor

perceived by the ear,

Nor has the eye seen any God

Besides You,

Who acts for the one who waits

for Him.

 

⁵You meet him who rejoices and

does righteousness,

Who remembers You in Your

Ways.

(Isaiah 64:4-5a – NKJ)

 

It’s easy to look at what we perceive to be the impossibilities of our personal circumstances and become discouraged.

It’s understandable, when considering the darkness of this world, the terror-inducing scenarios that unfold each day, to become fearful and distressed.

It’s natural when we absorb the negative statistics regarding our dysfunctional or depraved societies to become disheartened, or when we consider adverse analytical reports from scientific, psychiatric and economic experts, to feel both alarmed and overwhelmed.

After all, such events, such reports, such realities confront us on a daily basis.

But dear friends, whenever we find ourselves despairing, know this – we are focusing on the wrong thing! We are focusing on that which undermines our personal peace and our confidence in God.

So how can we restore the right balance within our lives?

By deliberately changing our focus. By removing our eyes from the greatness of our needs, the hopelessness of our situation, the enormity of the world’s problems and using the vehicle of prayer, praise and worship to enlarge and increase our perception of the God we serve, the magnitude of his might, the awesomeness of his holy being.

I hope you will take the time to listen to the worship video below and allow Sinach Joseph to minister to you.

As you listen, may recognition of our Father-God’s greatness seep into your consciousness, refocus your mind, your heart and the spiritual eyes of your understanding upon the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth, the Glorious Holy One who sits above the circle of the earth, who despite all contrary appearances remains absolutely in control!

 

 

Hallelujah!

 

This Week’s Prayer Focus:

Throughout this week, let’s take the time to remember the greatness of our God. Let’s rejoice that there is no situation, no human or demonic entity that can stand against Him, or counteract His purpose—whether that purpose relates to your life, or to the nations of this earth.

(Please remember to protect yourselves with your spiritual armour before taking your place on the battlefield of prayer!)

 

Father God,

Be magnified today – in our minds, in our hearts, in our circumstances. Be magnified in our thoughts and understanding. Increase our perception of your greatness and glory. When our hearts feel overwhelmed, lead us to your Rock of truth. Extend and strengthen our capacity to refocus our eyes on the incontrovertible truth of your Word, upon the invincibility of your person and upon the incomparableness of your mighty power.

Holy Spirit, help us to focus on Jesus, the originator and completer of our faith. Inspire and motivate us to worship God in spirit and in truth. Grant us revelation knowledge and insight regarding God’s purpose for our lives, for our loved ones and for our nations. Minister the heart-felt peace that surpasses natural understanding, regardless of whatever troubles we may face. Help us to pray effectively about our individual concerns and about those issues which God lays upon our hearts.

Father-God, hear our supplication today. Deliver us from evil. Manifest your good, acceptable and perfect will and may it prevail within our lives and upon this earth.

We ask this in faith and in the name of your Son Jesus, the name at which every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that he alone is Lord. Amen!

© Carol Hind

 

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Sunday’s Supplications

Sunday’s Supplications invites you to not only read the posts but also participate in the prayers. Each week, I hope to introduce a new theme and prayer focus. You are welcome to print off and use each prayer provided, either verbatim or adapted for your particular circumstance. Even better, you can construct your own prayer and share with others by linking to this post. Please note, you do not have to be a blogger to participate.

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Women of Warfare followers and visitors, may the peace of God envelop your minds and hearts throughout the coming week.

 

CREDIT: the above CC0 image comes courtesy of Beate Bachmann at Pixabay.com

Quit Mourning and Move On!

 

Are you crying and obsessing over spilt milk?

If so, where has that got you so far?

Just think about this for a moment, will you?

My guess is that whatever has happened to you in the past, whatever injustice you have suffered, whatever unfortunate happening has occurred, if you have spent days, weeks, months, years, obsessing over that situation, it has not changed your circumstance by one iota!

Am I right?

So why do we do this?

Why do we repeat negative thought and behaviour patterns that have proven over time to be non-effective, even perhaps self-destructive?

May I encourage you dear reader? May I suggest something to you that might seem challenging?

Get over it! Move on!

Dear reader, I am not being harsh or unfeeling and I am not being unsympathetic. Believe me, I’m speaking firstly to myself and then to whoever happens to be reading this post, to whom my message may apply.

Move on!

• Quit mourning
• Quit obsessing
• Quit cursing, nursing and rehearsing

 

Quit mourning:

I get it. You feel bereaved.

Someone’s words or actions have left you feeling angry, or bereft, even savaged. And you are hurting over that sense of loss.

• Do you acknowledge what happened? Yes!
• Do you allow it to be your focus, to the point that it immobilises you? No!

 

Quit obsessing:

Stop nursing the hurt or outrage. Stop revisiting the scenario in your mind. Stop allowing it to haunt your waking moments, your get-into-bed routine. Stop examining in minute detail what was said or done, how it made you feel, how you wish you could make that person pay for what they did, or how their words, their actions, have left you feeling used and abused, or rendered you bottom-of-the-barrel in the estimation of others.

• Are you not permitted to be open and transparent about how you feel? Yes!
• Should you begin to manipulate the responses of others toward those who’ve hurt you? No!

 

Quit cursing, nursing and rehearsing:

Refrain from rueing the day you ever got involved with so-and-so. Stop wishing God will take vengeance—on your terms! Stop vowing to never speak to that person again, or deciding I will never, ever allow myself to be hurt in that way again.

And definitely, absolutely, stop talking about it in negative terms to other people. Stop filling the ears of friends and loved ones with “tales of the un-respected”. Stop inviting others to share your biased view point.

Stop being a victim!

 

A change is as good as a rest!

So what should we do if we consider ourselves to be a victim of someone’s malicious gossip, spite, or unwarranted attack?

In the natural realm, whenever we’ve sustained wounds, whenever we experience a debilitating or potentially harmful condition, we take appropriate action. We seek expert advice and assistance.

And, if we’ve applied corrective measures, if we’ve been operated upon, we require recuperation. We allow time for a full recovery.

Now during this period, how well do you think we’d recover, if we kept removing the bandages, or undid our stitches and began poking around in our wounds?

How do you think we’d be received, if we invited everyone we knew to look at our sores, or examine our scars, again and again?

Woman of God, what if you should find yourself in need of surgery, or some other form of medical intervention? Would you think or believe that you will never recover, regain strength, return to your normal self? Of course not!

You trust the surgeon. You believe the prescribed medication will do its job. You know if you adjust your lifestyle and obey the expert’s directions, you will eventually bounce back.

In fact, dear woman of God, if in the natural, you did sustain a sore or serious wound, would you not apply salve, or seek appropriate assistance in order to alleviate pain and encourage healing? Would you not consider it irresponsible to allow it to fester unattended?

So why not apply this same way of thinking when it comes to your emotional hurts and wounds?

 

Women of God – Apply that Spiritual Salve!

Biblical truth reveals:

…he (Jesus) was wounded and bruised for our sins. He was beaten that we might have peace; he was lashed—and we were healed!

(Isaiah 53:5 The Living Bible)

So who is the expert when it comes to inner hurts?

Jesus!

Who can and has prescribed the correct spiritual remedy for your specific ailment?

Our Father-God!

Who can assist you in your recovery programme?

The Holy Spirit!

 

Do you believe this? Then may I encourage you dear reader to accept the opportunity for inner healing that Jesus’ blood has purchased for you? May I encourage you to take advantage of the wonderful and FREE spiritual resources that have been made available to us as children of God?

What are those resources?

• Prayer.
• The Word of God.
• The person of the Holy Spirit.

Dear women of warfare, I am not only seeking to encourage you to increase your prayer life, pray fervently and effectively, I am also wanting to encourage those to whom it is appropriate, to adopt better behavioural patterns, so that we are not stumbling through life as walking wounded women (victims) but living as authentic, spiritual overcomers (victors).

I am seeking to inspire you to imitate Jesus, trust your Father-God and co-operate with the Holy Spirit.

As women of God, let’s rise up to the level of thinking and acting that enables us to experience abundant life—the life for which Christ so cruelly suffered, in order that we might freely enjoy.

Are you with me?

Then let’s start by making a personal pact with ourselves. Let’s quit mourning about what cannot be undone. Let’s stop obsessing over the whys and the wherefores… the he said this and she did that… the if only… blah blah blah.

After all, if it’s not changing the situation, if it’s only entrenching us in ungodly and self-harming paradigms, leading us into self-sabotaging re-actions—is it not foolish to continue engaging with such pernicious ways of thinking and behaving?

Women of Warfare followers and visitors – arise and shine! Let’s make a quality decision to allow the love and power of God to become our focus, so that his glory can be seen upon us and can be manifested both within and through our lives.

From now on, let’s make a decision to quit mourning and moaning about the past and move on.

Let those in agreement, say aye or Amen!

 

SELF-SCRUTINY

Do I enjoy playing the victim, or am I willing to change?

 

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If you know anyone to whom this message may be timely, please don’t hesitate to share it. Have you found this post helpful? Let me know what aspects resonated with you, or what your response is to my message. Thank you for your time.

 

CREDIT: the above CC0 image comes courtesy of Pixabay.com

 

Do You Know God’s Will? (Part 2)

 

Hello friends, followers and visitors – how have you been doing this week? I hope you are growing and flourishing in the will of God.

Last week, we looked at understanding the will of God. A big subject when you consider we serve a BIG God. But you know something? God does not hide his will, his plan and purpose from us. He does not make it impossible for us to discover.

Nor does he require us to have a phenomenal brain, or super-human intellect, or something which is available only to the rich or supremely successful person, in order to access this information.

If you are a child of God (i.e. if you have been spiritually “born-again”) then you have Christ living within you, you have God’s Holy Spirit alongside you, and you have the Word of God, to help you know, understand and fulfil God’s good, acceptable and perfect will.

Last week we looked at the definition of understanding according to Chambers 21^st Century Dictionary. Two of these definitions were:

• The act of understanding or the ability to understand
• Someone’s perception or interpretation of information received

We also considered God’s command to us through Paul:

Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

Ephesians 5:17 (NKJV)

 

We can see then that understanding the will of God must be something accessible to us as children of God, since our Father-God is fair and just and would not ask of us something that’s impossible.

So, if there is an issue regarding our understanding of what God wants, it would seem to be a problem with our knowledge, or our perception, even our interpretation of the information that we have at our disposal.

 

First things First!

Going back to God’s command to us in Ephesians, note that it begins with asking us not to be unwise. This suggests to me that in order to know the will of God, we need wisdom. Further, I believe that this wisdom has to be the supernatural wisdom of God, not the secular wisdom of this world.

We cannot operate the things of God with the tools of the world. Anything concerning the realm of God requires the resources of God.

So how do we get this wisdom?

We ask!

From James 1:5 we learn that if we lack supernatural wisdom, we can do something about it. We can ask God, who will not only supply us with the required wisdom but also grant us a liberal portion.

We see evidence of this truth in King Solomon’s life, who was dubbed the wisest man that ever lived.

In 1 Kings 3:3-15, we learn that Solomon felt inadequate for his role as king. And so, when God appears to him in a dream and invites him to ask for whatever he desires, Solomon asks for wisdom and understanding, in order to effectively fulfil God’s will and call on his life—to rule the nation of Israel.

Guess what? Solomon received his request in an abundant measure!

Then God said to him: “Because you have asked this thing… behold I have done according to your words; see I have given you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has not been anyone like you before you, nor shall any like you arise after you…”

1 Kings 3:11-12 (NKJV)

Dear reader, if you do not know, or are unsure of what God’s will is, have you asked him? Have you asked for his wisdom?

 

What next?

Having established that in order to know the will of God, we require the wisdom of God, what comes next?

I believe having a basic understanding of God’s nature and modus operandi, correctly interpreting the information we have regarding the principles of his kingdom and his intention toward us, is key.

Someone can “know” 2 and 2 makes 4, because they’ve learned it by rote but, if you do not know the basic rules of maths, you will not understand why 2 and 2 makes 4, and will therefore not be able to apply this mathematical rule outside of what you have learned by rote. To someone who does not know this basic rule they could easily interpret the information (2 + 2) as 22.

In the same way, we can “know” (i.e. make a cerebral calculation) about God but, if we don’t have a revelation, a spiritual understanding of who He is, then we can come up with a wrong interpretation.

Take for instance the parable of the talents. The two men who’d been given 2 or 5 talents, understood that their Lord’s will was for them to increase the potential of what they’d been given. However, the one who was given one talent did not. He had a completely wrong perception of his master, did not discern his will correctly, or else did not care to recognise and honour it. He therefore buried what he had been given.

When we do not know, when we fail to understand, or refuse to submit to God’s will, the end result is unfulfilled potential.

(To be continued…)

 

This Week’s Prayer Focus:

This week, let’s consider those areas of our lives where we would benefit from the supernatural wisdom of God. Perhaps it is so we can do our jobs better, bringing creative solutions to problems. Perhaps it is so we can enjoy better relationships with our loved ones. Perhaps it is simply knowing the best thing to do, or the right path to take in a given situation.

Dear believers, in order to walk as victorious overcomers, we need to be in tune with God’s will.  Let’s be bold. Let’s ask for wisdom and understanding in faith and be assured in our hearts that we are capable of discerning God’s will for our lives.

And you know what I’m about to say now, right?

Yep! Don’t forget to put on your spiritual armour!

 

Father God,

Your Word tells me that the wisdom of this world is foolishness to you. It also tells me that this world’s wisdom is earthly, sensual and devilish. I therefore do not wish to operate in this world’s wisdom. I want to operate in the wisdom that comes from above, which is pure, peaceable, without partiality and hypocrisy.

Father, your Word also counsels me not to be unwise but to understand what your will is. Lord, grant me godly wisdom, so that I may know, understand and fulfil your perfect will for my life.

Merciful Father, I bring before you all members of the Body of Christ who are represented amongst my readership. I pray for them in accordance with Ephesians 6:18. I ask first of all that you divinely protect them and their loved ones as they go about their lives. Deliver them from evil. Protect them from danger. Remove them from the paths of harm.

I now ask Father God that you kindle within each one of your children, an increasing desire to know and fully understand your will. Continue to work within our hearts, so that we might both desire to know and obediently submit to your will. Not just now and again, or when the mood suits, or when a crisis dictates but consistently, faithfully.

Lord God, let not the will of the Enemy, or the will of unscrupulous men, or even our own selfish wills prevail in our lives. But let your good, your acceptable and your perfect will be fulfilled, both within and through our lives.

I ask in faith and in the matchless name of your Son, Jesus. Amen.

© Carol Hind

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Sunday’s Supplications

Sunday’s Supplications invites you to not only read the posts but also participate in the prayers. Each week, I hope to introduce a new theme and prayer focus. You are welcome to print off and use each prayer provided, either verbatim or adapted for your particular circumstance. Even better, you can construct your own prayer and share with others by linking to this post. Please note, you do not have to be a blogger to participate.

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Women of Warfare followers and visitors have a peaceful and victorious week!

 

CREDIT: the above CC0 image comes courtesy of Nähe Bonne at Pixabay.com

God’s Masterpiece

 

 

For we are God’s [own] handiwork (His workmanship), recreated in Christ Jesus, [born anew] that we may do those good works which God predestined (planned beforehand) for us [taking paths which He prepared ahead of time], that we should walk in them [living the good life which he pre-arranged and made ready for us to live].

Ephesians 2:10 – Amplified Bible

 

 

Pursue a Love Relationship

 

Sunday’s Supplications

Sunday’s Supplications invites you to not only read the posts but also participate in the prayers. Each week, I hope to introduce a new theme and prayer focus. You are welcome to print off and use each prayer provided, either verbatim or adapted for your particular circumstance. Even better, you can construct your own prayer and share with others by linking to this post. Please note, you do not have to be a blogger to participate.

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Embed from Getty Images

 

I love the Lord, because He has heard

My voice and my supplications.

Because He has inclined His ear to me,

Therefore I will call upon Him

As long as I live.

(Psalms 116:1-2 NKJV)

 

Do you love the Lord?

Really love him that is – not just have an affection for him, not just feel a fondness for him, not just have a religious fervour regarding him which is only acted upon at church, whenever you choose to attend.

Do you love God beyond what you may articulate with your lips? Do you demonstrate that love with your lifestyle?

To love God is to obey him – John 14:15

To love God is to trust him – 1 John 4:18

To love God is to yield to his Word, his ways and his will – Deuteronomy 10:12

Dear reader, perhaps you used to love God but you’ve left your first love (see Revelations 2:4), i.e. you’ve abandoned your original commitment and allegiance to him, you’ve become lukewarm spiritually.

Perhaps the fervent love you once had for God, for his Son, Jesus, for the things pertaining to God’s kingdom has now lost its spiritual vitality and deteriorated into a religious routine.

Dear Women of Warfare visitor, there is no better position in life, no safer place to be than to find yourself firmly ensconced within the loving arms and nurturing bosom of our dear Father-God.

When you love the Lord your God, with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, when you seek intimate fellowship with him, Psalm 91:14-16 promises the following benefits:

• Deliverance
• Safety and divine protection
• Promotion
• Answers to prayer
• A concerned response to your cries for help
• A long, satisfying life

Now who doesn’t want, or need these things?

 

This Week’s Prayer Focus:

Do you need to give yourself a spiritual health check-up?

Do you know someone who used to have a passion for the Lord and the kingdom of God but has either fallen away completely, or has become backslidden in their heart?

Let’s pray both for ourselves and for those who have wandered from God’s pathway.

(Prayer warriors and interns – remember to put on your spiritual armour before entering the battlefield!)

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Dear merciful and ever-loving father,

I want to thank you that your arms are always open in welcome towards your children. I want to thank you for your open invitation to visit your throne-room and make my requests and petitions to you.

Lord God, my heart’s desire is to love you wholeheartedly and without distraction. I ask that you search my heart, that you remove any areas of fickleness from within me. I ask that you continue to guide and establish me in your paths of right-thinking and right-living.

Father-God, hear my petition today. Watch over the lives of my brothers and sisters in Christ, who are among my blog followers and visitors. Grant my request that you stir up within each one an increasing hunger and passion to know you and regularly fellowship with you.

I pray for those sons and daughters within the circle of our influence, who once knew you, who once served you but have left your path of life and light. I ask that you turn their hearts back to you.

Deliver them from the captivity of the Enemy, who has blinded their heart, mind and understanding. Deliver them from the snares of materialism, self-gratification and pride of life. Open their spiritual eyes that they may see and appreciate the reality of sin’s corrosive world of darkness, which both woos and envelops them. Deliver them from every plan, scheme and strategy of Satan designed to further entrap them.

Loving Father-God, deliver your backslidden children from the evil clutches of the Enemy. Cause the glorious light of your gospel to shine once again in their hearts and steer them towards your highway of holiness.

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

© Carol Hind

 

There’s absolutely no obligation to do so but if you are committed to revitalizing your prayer life, if you have prayed the above prayer (or any of the Sunday’s Supplication prayers), please let me know in the comment box below or via my Contact Page. I’d love to hear from you.

Women of Warfare followers and visitors, may this week find you drawing ever closer to God.

 

CREDIT: the above image comes courtesy of Getty Images

His Healing Balm

 

Why is my pain perpetual

And my wound incurable,

Which refuses to be healed?

(Jeremiah 15:18a NKJV)

 

Is your soul in need of healing?

This blog exists because I have a desire to encourage the people of God, particularly women, to walk victoriously, to reign in whatever circumstance they may find themselves in, which the Enemy may have orchestrated, or which has occurred as a result of their own disobedience to, and rebellion against God.

This blog exists to encourage you dear reader in your journey through life.

Do you need soul surgery?

Do you need to experience the healing balm of God’s unconditional love and mercy?

Then spend time in his presence.

He loves you. Absolutely.

He cares for you. Without the shadow of a doubt!

He hurts with and for you. Listen to what his Word says:

 

You have seen me tossing and turning through the night. You have collected all my tears and preserved them in your bottle! You have recorded every one (i.e. each tear) in your book.

(Psalm 56:8 The Living Bible)

 

My Father-God has your very best interests as a primary concern upon his heart. So don’t let anything or anyone (not even yourself!) convince you otherwise.

Trust him. Yield to him. Seek to obey him.

Allow Jehovah-Rophe (the Lord God your healer) into those areas that have been bludgeoned by the merciless clubs of rejection and pierced by the swords of betrayal.

Allow him to begin that healing process TODAY.

I close this message with a few quotes that I trust will speak meaningfully to you and encourage you.

 

Healing doesn’t mean the damage never existed. It means the damage no longer controls our lives. (author unknown)

 

For every negative there is a possible, for every failure there is success and for every broken heart there is someone out there to help you mend it, you just have to have faith and believe that even though the clouds are out, the sun will shine on your life again. (Rashida Rowe)

 

The day you let go of hurt and embrace healing is the day you will start to move forward in your life (Rashida Rowe)

 

Hate is self-destructive. If you hate somebody, you’re not hurting the person you hate. You’re hurting yourself. And that’s a healing. Actually, it’s a real healing, forgiveness. (Louis Zamperini)

 

Faith is the cure that heals all troubles. Without faith there is no hope and no love. Faith comes before hope, and before love. (Malika E. Nura)

 

Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed;

Save me, and I shall be saved,

For you are my praise.

(Jeremiah 17:14 NKJV)

 

Women of Warfare followers and visitors – have a wonderful and peace-filled weekend.

 

CREDIT: the above CC0 image comes courtesy of Arek Socha at Pixabay.com

Whether Broken Hearts or Celestial Spheres…

 

PRAISE PRAYER & WORSHIP WEDNESDAY

During my quiet time this morning, I was reflecting on a facet of God’s amazing greatness.

You see the evening before, I’d been feeling tired and demotivated. And even though I felt I should get up from my settee and do something constructive towards my goals, after a long day at work, I just didn’t feel like doing anything. I had neither the energy nor the inclination. And so I gave in to my feelings.

As I prepared to spend time in God’s presence the following morning, I thought about how God never gets tired and his interest in us never wanes. It caused me to be thankful that he is who he is and that I can depend upon him to always be the same.

Today I want to give my Father God thanks and praise because no matter how I feel, no matter what I have done (or not done), no matter whether I feel too tired, or too discouraged to spend time with him, He will never change!

He will always love me. He will always welcome me into his presence.

Our God will never be too busy to hear our prayers (or our complaints). He will never be too cross or offended, to care about our needs.

Psalm 147:3-4 tells us that:

1. He heals the broken-hearted and binds up their wounds
2. He counts the number of stars and calls them all by name.

 

Now that set me thinking. I wondered, what is the connection between wounded hearts and stars?

The answer that came to my heart was this:

Whether a matter is great or small, nothing escapes God’s notice. It may be as hidden and seemingly insignificant as a broken heart, or as conspicuous and majestic as the stars, God notices. And whilst we may look up and just see a mass of stars, God looks and sees individual celestial bodies. He knows how many there are and he even names them.

Beloved reader, he sees you. He cares about you more than you can ever comprehend.

What a wonderful, wonderful God we serve. Is he not worthy of our heartfelt praise?

 

Praise:

Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;

And His greatness is unsearchable.

(Psalm 145:3)

 

Prayer:

Dear Father God,

How wonderful you are. You are beyond comprehension. It’s just mind-boggling to know that one so great, so perfect, so holy would deign to love a fickle, imperfect and sinful people. Thank you for reaching down and offering us a new life on a higher plane.

Open our eyes Lord that we might see you in the beauty of your holiness, that we might appreciate your greatness and glory. Open our hearts Lord that we might love and worship you the way you truly deserve.

Amen.

 

Worship:

 

 

 Women of Warfare followers and visitors have a blessed week!

 

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Credits: CC0 Images used are courtesy of Pixabay.com

 

A Spiritual Gauntlet!

Sunday’s Supplications (4)

A command:

Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men

(1 Timothy 2:1 NKJV)

 

An inquiry:

Who did you pray for today?

Who did you pray for last week?

Who do you pray for regularly?

Do you enjoy a dynamic, effective and ongoing prayer life?

 

An invitation:

Sunday Supplications invites you to not only read the posts but also participate in the prayers. Each week, I hope to introduce a new theme and prayer focus. You are welcome to print off and use each prayer provided, either verbatim or adapted for your particular circumstance. Even better, you can construct your own prayer and share with others by linking to this post. Please note, you do not have to be a blogger to participate.

 

A specific purpose:

The aim of this feature is to:

• encourage you to pray regularly
• increase your confidence in prayer and
• develop a praying community.

 

In Matthew 6:5-6, Jesus did not say “…if you pray” but “when you pray…”. To my mind, this means he expected his followers to pray.

 

I’m aware that there are all sorts of misunderstandings and misconceptions about prayer. I’m hoping this feature will help to dispel any myths you may entertain regarding this spiritual exercise. I’m hoping to motivate people to pray regularly and demonstrate how natural the act of prayer is, and how vital it is to our relationship with God and to fulfilling our responsibility to fellow members of His family.

 

A call to commitment:

Now commitment phobes, please don’t run scared. I am challenging myself and other Christian believers to step-up the quality of their prayer lives. As the saying goes: “two is better than one”. So think how much more effective, how much more supportive a prayer network (particularly a global prayer network) will be.

I can understand any reluctance to commit, or concern about letting anyone down. So here’s the deal. If you do decide to engage with this initiative, if you do decide to upgrade your prayer life, your decision can be between you and God alone—unless of course you choose to go public and share with the WoW community! But dear believer, I am asking you to make that commitment – a commitment to honour Christ’s expectation of his followers, a commitment to obey Paul’s direction in Ephesians 6:18, a commitment to pray.

You may sometimes fail to follow through. You may often find that you lack discipline, or the inclination. Your Father-God understands. In fact, the Word of God records Jesus as saying: “the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak”. So whilst you are forming, or renewing, or increasing your prayer habit, commit to whatever you feel comfortable with— a week at a time, a month, 6 months, or a year. Renew your commitment as and when you like. It is entirely up to you. I will not be holding anyone to account.

 

A spiritual gauntlet

Are you new to praying regularly?

Does your prayer life lack consistency, or authority and fervour?

Then I’m throwing down a spiritual gauntlet. I’m challenging you to do something about it NOW!

Don’t feel intimidated or overwhelmed. Tackle this prayer undertaking one step at a time. You don’t even have to find your own words, if that worries you. Simply pray the prepared prayer provided. I only ask that you pray it daily or weekly—not out of a sense of duty, not as an empty exercise, but with fervent sincerity.

By doing so, I believe your prayer life will change. By doing so, I believe your confidence in God will increase. By doing so, I believe your spiritual life and authority will move up a notch or two because obedience to God brings rich rewards.

Potential prayer warriors and interns, welcome aboard. Let’s build a vibrant praying community together.

One last thing, don’t forget to put on your spiritual armour before entering the battlefield!

 

This Week’s Prayer Focus:

Can we forget our natural inclinations to care only about me, myself and mine?

Can we pay heed to Paul’s instruction to Timothy and begin to pray for all men? I’m sure I don’t have to remind you that this reference includes women and children also! The more people that participate, the wider the coverage and the greater the impact.

This week, let’s focus on the men, women and children of our neighbourhoods, of our church communities, of our nations.

May God motivate his people all over this world to offer heartfelt supplications on behalf of others around them, and may he use these petitions to effect miraculous changes within the hearts and lives of individuals, including ourselves.

 

Lord God Almighty,

Even though you are sovereign, even though you possess all power and might, even though you have revealed your will for all men to enjoy an abundant life, perpetual peace and spiritual well-being, you have given us a free-will.

Father God, we are sorry for the times we have exercised our will contrary to your ways. We are sorry that in doing so, we have made a mess of our lives and of our world. We are sorry and we admit that we cannot conduct our lives appropriately, or guide ourselves onto the paths of our pre-ordained destiny, without your help. We ask that you come and take control. We invite you to come and bring order to our homes, to our communities, to our nations. We ask that you heal this world.

Come and change the hearts of men, women and children that are ignorant of, or antagonistic towards your holy Word, your wholesome ways and your perfect will. Lord God, touch the lives of your people whom you have called into your kingdom. Enlighten the eyes of our understanding and empower us to serve you and one another with unfeigned love and devotion.

Father God, we commit this appeal into your capable hands. We believe that there is nothing too difficult for you to do. We believe you have heard our prayers and therefore thank you for granting our requests. Amen.

© Carol Hind

 

Women of Warfare followers and visitors, have a wonderful and peace-filled week.

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Now there’s absolutely no obligation to do so but if you are committing to upgrade your prayer life, if you have prayed the above prayer (or any of the Sunday Supplication prayers), please let me know in the comment box below. Thank you.

CREDIT: the above CC0 image comes courtesy of Marcia bispo Bença at Pixabay.com