The Blessing.

The Blessing.

Whenever you speak, edify, for these words are a self-fulfilling prophecy (what you give out you get back). We should always aim to speak the positive, not the negative.

God wants to bless His people and He does it through us. As a church, we’ve been neglectful in this area. We’ve also been lied to; told that blessings are old testament, only for priests, or that they’re uniquely given by God, bound by the symbolic, tending to a sole use in the material and not the spiritual.

It is for us now, to reclaim the biblical understanding of what a blessing is. We’re to bless everybody and everything. We’re to multiply and extend, bless everywhere. It’s to be a beginning and an anointing of a lifetime of blessings throughout all generations.

The source of the blessing is God. God blesses through us. Use the blessing mightily, frequently and liberally. Bless all you come in contact with. The shepherd blesses the flock. Parents speak blessings over the children. Grandparents bless your grandchildren. Brothers and sisters bless one another. Husbands and wives bless each other. Bless to give comfort.

Bless finances, health, harvests, people, relationships, lands, stores, churches, governments. The list is endless. The conditions required are simple; faith and obedience. We want to reap blessings. We reap what we sow and we’re to sow blessings, not curses. As you bless, give a meaningful touch, for we are God’s conduit. He travels from His people, through our touch, to those who need blessing. We all need blessing.

The spoken word is a powerful thing. The most powerful thing in the world is God’s word and when you give voice to it, it does something to the heart of man that nothing else will do. So go ahead, encourage people in who they are, in how God sees them. Focus on potential, not on what is. Centre towards what could be and on what should be and don’t leave a single, unclaimed blessing with God. Use them all. You can never run out.

Numbers 6:24-26; The Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.

Ezekiel 34:26; and I will make them and the places round about My hill a blessing, and I will cause the shower to come down in his season, there shall be showers of blessing.

The Slippery Slope Of Compromise.

All it takes is one little compromise, then another and then another and in the end, those little compromises don’t bother us any more. After that, those compromises become greater as we move further away from God in our sin. Each compromise leading to a little more pulling away from God, as our soul deadens itself to the prompts of the Spirit; a shadow now having been cast between us.

It tells us in Proverbs 12:22 “Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord.” We’re kidding ourselves if we think we can lie and get away with it. Our lies will be exposed. God knows when we lie and the next time we pray, the Holy Spirit gives us a nudge as if to say; you can’t pray for that, until you ask forgiveness for the other.

Compromise isn’t all about lying either. It might just be something that’s a tiny smidgen away from an upstanding moral, but we let it slide this one time. And if we’re living for God, perhaps we should consider counting the cost before we embark on a long and round-about journey. Honesty and integrity live side by side and once we let either of those slip, it’s a slippery slope into the oceans of doom.

It’s not always easy to do the right thing. Dilemmas pop up out of nowhere and we have to ask ourselves which is the right thing to do in this situation? Sometimes it’s downright difficult to make the right choice in those moments. At times such as this we need the wisdom of the Holy Spirit to help us.

If we do take a wrong step, remember God gives us a window of mercy and grace and we should use that window to ask forgiveness and accept the mercy and grace offered. Come quickly to the place of repentance. Do not tarry. Also, the size of our sin is no barrier to salvation.  

The Pearl of Great Price (the kingdom of heaven) is more valuable than anything else in existence; God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, Salvation; this is what we work towards and we don’t want to jeopardise it in any way, so be sure to be honest in all your dealings, even if they seem insignificant.

The lure of satan is not nearly so impressive as the touch of God. God is our peace: Breathe Him in. Set your standard and don’t deviate from it. The Designer has a specific purpose for your life and you don’t want to get off track at any point in time.

Determine your direction. Work towards your destiny. Move in your gifts at all times and one day you will be promoted. All we have to do is stick with the program and don’t deviate, don’t compromise, not even a little.

Wide is the road to hell and narrow the path to heaven. It’s not easy to always live with integrity, however we must put forward our best efforts and stay in the presence of God. A life of no compromise sets a standard for successful living. People will know you by your fruit. Be sure they see the fruit of honesty.

 

 

 

 

Not Every Day is a Good Day.

            Not Every Day is a Good Day.

I took yesterday off. I was just over it. Not every day is a good day and sometimes pushing every day, while at times only seeing limited results; sometimes it gets to be difficult.

I’m reading a book and heard the Lord speaking to me through its pages. The book mentioned not every road is a straight road and delay is not defeat. Then I listened to a you tube which said we have to get to a place where the devil’s tactics don’t cause us to change, that we aren’t to get into negativity but to say; is that all you’ve got? and then get on with our day. Trusting in the Lord at all times is the goal, however that’s not where I’ve been the past couple of days.

Later today I read in my bible the passage of the leaven. Leaven being used for both good or evil. Tiny pieces of active energy, permeating through our life. I can’t help but wonder, as I study quantum physics, if leaven isn’t another word for particle.

Still, for the believer, a small glimpse of the Lord’s attitude towards His people, the leaven transforming people from a dead lump, into life, via a quickening influence. The piece went on to say; poor, ignorant men, with no resources, bar God Himself. Isn’t the all of us at times?

An inheritance hastily gotten at the beginning, but not blessed at the end, spoken of in the bible (Proverbs 20:21) and not something we wish to see. Sometimes it’s better to battle, as long as we remember we are mighty through God.

The leaven, dusted across fine flour, kneaded and pounded until our earthly life aligns with our Christian principles. The leaven working its way through the bread, until the outward appearance is transformed and visible to all.

And so I continue to plug away, even during those difficult days, for we can be bogged down at times.

I sold a number of books this month. In looking at my account yesterday, I felt a whole load lift. It was like – Yes, I am a writer! I felt a lightening, like a burden was removed and I actually felt successful in a small measure. All I have to do now is hold on to that successful feeling. Now that I know what it feels like, I may replicate that feeling and bring more of it into my life, for what we think about is what we bring about.

Yes, I sell books all the time, but some months I sell more than others. I’ve sold books before and had the same feeling then, but to sell so many was a bit of a surprise. I’d forgotten all about the earlier sales, remembering only this moment, as I write this and as I came to that same place, that now I’m sure to hang on to the feeling of success.

My bible reading today was about scribes. Once, a prophet at church called me a scribe. She was a visitor to the church and said (without knowing me at all), you’re a storyteller, a scribe. As a writer of biblical truths, yes, I can visualize that. A scribe, instructed in the ways of heaven, is like a householder bringing forth treasure, both the new and the old.

Matthew 13:52; He said to them, “Therefore every teacher of the law who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.”

As I labour within the pages of the word (the old), bringing it forth into daily living (the new) and as I garner more on how the kingdom of heaven responds to the word of God, I teach it through my written work. The apostles were taught the word of God, though Jesus and once adept, they wrote the word of God, marrying the old testament with the new.

I know what we think about is what we bring about. My aim is to show this truth to others. While I’m not able to add anything to that precious word of God, I can enlighten through my own parables, just as Jesus did and hopefully, I’m doing it just as well as Jesus did it.

Dusk to Dawn.

                       Dusk to Dawn.

God counts the days, not from morning to evening, but evening to morning. That’s because during the evening you’re to start on what’s needed for tomorrow. Iron those clothes, make those lunches, call that person, sort the finances. Don’t leave it all for the morning rush, where you’re distracted and irritated. God specialises in bringing light out of darkness; evening to morning, moving seamlessly from one to the other. You should too.

Map out your day the night before and follow through. Keep first things first. Be focussed but flexible. Delegate where you can. Even if all you do is pick five things to do each night, it will give you a head start in the morning. These words will keep your life on track and bring you good success.

Leadership experts rarely get up in the morning, wondering what they’re going to do with their day. They have a plan and follow through with it. When you leave your life to chance, chances are you won’t go anywhere. Just as the dawn is all the more brilliant after a dark night, so too is your progress.

The greatest gain comes after pain and breakthrough comes when we hold fast and stay in the battle. Hold on tight. Don’t let go. Keep moving forward. God can be trusted to bring us through our dark and stormy nights and into the new dawn of victory. It will happen if we do our part and not quit.

The Chaldean and its Evil Rein.

The Chaldean and its Evil Rein.

My bible reading today was about the Chaldeans. I clicked onto a you tube message, which happened to be on the same thing. There was a warning in this; beware lest what the prophets say comes upon you. There is an enemy who’s trying to blind you to the truth and that enemy is a Chaldean. Don’t let the warnings of the prophets go unquestioned.

Chaldeans are a type of demonic. A bitter, nasty and hasty nation, who march over the earth to possess places that aren’t theirs, to gain mastery and control over places in which they don’t belong.

The Chaldean race had been destroyed and was never again referred to after 605 BC. So, if they’ve been destroyed, why are the spoken of and who are they today? Demons - demonic spirits. Sceptics today would say there are no demons. I say; “Yes, there are.” You’d better know it and beware, because they’re trying to possess dwelling places that don’t belong to them.

Demons can be singular or multitude. The spirits within the two men with the ‘legion of demons’ (legion meaning many) pleaded with Jesus not to send them away and Jesus allowed them to enter into the pigs. The pigs ran over the edge of the cliff and were drowned. (See Matthew 8.) Those ‘legion’ spirits are still hanging around today, looking for a body (home) to possess.

They’re thieves, with satan as their head. Satan too is thief, coming to kill, steal and destroy, but he’s not omnipresent and uses demons to do his work. Satan has an army of demons. Satan can have you bound by a demon spirit and so tightly bound that you aren’t even aware of it.

Addictions are satanic spirits which have bound you. Also, poverty, suicidal thoughts, schizophrenia, perversion, confusion, just to name a few. There are many more.

The Chaldeans want for themselves the houses of God as their possession. They’re not after the unbeliever, they’re after the believer. And their gleeful about it too.

The definition of Chaldean is demon. Wanderers. Unclean spirits who come out and wander the earth to possess dwelling places. You have to fill your house (heart and mind) with the word of God, or you will have a house swept clean and the Chaldean will come with 7 of his friends.

You can remove the evil entities, but unless you replace the space with God, they’ll come back 7 times greater than before. We are in a war. The Chaldeans, as a people, were never conquered, until they were fully destroyed. God used them through the old testament, until the people called out to Him. Once a nation of people, now a world-wide demonic entity.

The Chaldeans took over Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar was a Chaldean. Nebuchadnezzar took two things – articles from the house of God and the young men; good looking, with no blemish. Men gifted in wisdom and understanding with ability to serve – future leaders. Nebuchadnezzar wanted to teach them about the Chaldeans, warping their minds with dazzling lies.

The articles from the house of God were the tithe, and the young men were the next generation. They took the gold and the silver and the future leaders. They took what goes into the mind (how you view the world), into the body (ensuring the lusts of the flesh) and stole what belongs to God from the storehouses, the best and most precious to God. Replacing the wholesome with the pride of life, lust of the eye and lust of the body.

Demons are squatters, starting in the attic (mind) and moving into the main living areas (heart) of the house, as time progresses. And just like any demon, Chaldeans are vicious. They don’t have one moment of empathy, or sympathy. They gather captives like sand in a bucket, easily and effortlessly. They’re like wolves tearing prey, leaving not a bone until morning. They work at night. (Read your bible or pray if you wake at night, particularly if you wake up and feel any negativity.)

Wolves and sheep cannot coexist. A wolf will study their prey to look for their weak spots. They go for the sheep that’s off by itself. Stay close to the shepherd. A wolf will attack in a pack. When they howl, they’re calling the rest of the pack and will divide the flock.

Satan never has a merciful moment. He will attack at your worst possible time. Young and old, satan and his Chaldean followers will attack. Chaldeans will hide and they’re excellent marksmen. When your trudging through life, that’s when they’ll shoot. When you’re feeling at your lowest, that’s when they come. They’re cunning. They move in, become your friend and take over.

They use magicians and sorcerers to distract and deceive you. These magicians and sorcerers deceive by familiar spirits; spirits who know your past and show you things that no one else knows but you. And because of that, you believe them, listen intently and take on board what they say.

They also use astrologers, who tell you your future. They’ve come to distract, deceive and determine your future. This is why God forbids you, as one of His chosen, to entertain magicians, sorcerers and astrologers. Don’t go there. Those familiar spirits will always inform you of something bad that will happen in the future, planting a seed which grows over time.

What you think about you bring about and that’s the whole point. The planted seed festers and poisons and down the track causes a fear so real you start to believe it. In life we get not what we deserve, but what we believe and these little seeds imbedded in our mind begin grow, until we believe the corrupt report will happen.

Don’t read your horoscope, don’t allow the reading of tea leaves, tarot cards, or go to mediums or clairvoyants. It’s not harmless fun, as we’re led to believe. It has repercussions, throwing dark shadows well into your future.

And if you have been to a clairvoyant or medium; if you have had that festering seed planted, undo the damage by bringing it to God. Ask His forgiveness for your part in this and His protection that you will live and not die.

In our early days, we may not have known the danger and damage astrologers and sorcerers’ can impart, but we have a merciful and gracious God who is slow to anger and quick to forgive, so turn to Him now and get right with the Lord. Rebuke the enemy and stand on God’s promises of a long and satisfying life.

God is more powerful than satan or any demon, so bring yourself before the Almighty and live a life devoted to Him.

Eagles and God’s Plan for Your Life.

        Eagles and God’s Plan for Your Life.

Vision is increasing. Time is being restored. The fresh fire of the Lord is being released. The key is the upper room. What that means is; you have to spend time with God if you wish to see the releasing of the fire, or fresh encounters - if you want to be moving in to where He's going.

Revolutionary new ideas and understanding of His ways are coming, so you can build with God. To see it though, you need to spend time with Him and you do that by closing yourself in with Him.

God's fire is going to come and hit His people and they will show the rest of the world that the power of God is moving greatly.

Encounters with God, the revelation of Jesus and the light of God's glory will begin to shine brightly, transforming His people. The mark of love will be on you, as you walk in God's wisdom and His ways. A new era is about to begin; supernatural manifestations will be shown to those who are drawn into the Light. It will be physical, as people look at Jesus and read His word. New pathways and blueprints are coming to light.

Stop, seek, pray, set aside distraction and wait to hear from Him. You will be as eagles, set high above the earth, with eyes afire for God. The eagles will reveal the truth of God and you've been saved and closeted for such a time as this.

Truth will come into alignment with God's word and the watchman will declare that truth, interceding for Israel (the righteous of God), bringing a power that hasn't been seen before. And it all happens in the upper room, in the prayer closet of His people, in those who linger and spend time with God.

The above was written and deskbound within my computer notes. I don’t know where I heard it. I don’t know if I read it, watched a you tube, or if it was from someone I met, or even a dream. This particular morning I’d been for a bike ride and had breakfast under two stone eagles positioned atop two stone pillars. On returning home and opening my laptop, here it was, sitting, waiting for me to do something with it and yet I didn’t remember writing it.

I pray this isn’t someone else’s work, or if it is, I’d like to give them credit for it, for I surely don’t remember typing the above although I must have, to see it embedded within my notes. The fact that I had breakfast with eagles and this piece speaks of eagles tells me; it’s no coincidence. With this in mind, I put forward this piece for others to read and take heart.

I pray this little snippet encourages you to perch awhile with God, that it gives you the bravery to step out after hearing His word, with the faith to succeed in any endeavour you’re contending for.

The Best Tip I Ever Received

             The Best Tip I Ever Received.

How many times have you heard it said; I’m going to write a book about it one day. How many people do you know, have actually followed through and written that book? If writing were easy, everyone would do it, but it’s not. It takes dedication and commitment to start at the beginning, work it through to the end and not quit during the half-way hump in the middle.

It may take years of practice, before you even feel comfortable enough to send out your written work. Nerves come to the fore as you hesitatingly hit that send button. Anxiety arises, as you put your first work out into the ether, for all to see. It takes guts to send your work off, when you don’t initially know if you’re any good as a writer. You only find out how good you are, once you’ve done it, once you’ve pushed aside the nerves and sent that work to an editor, or publisher.

I’ve been a writer for over 20 years. For quite a while, not much happened. I’d post my work off, expectantly awaiting the magical words: “Congratulations on becoming an author.” After a time, I began do doubt my abilities; abilities which had taken years to perfect, as I considered on numerous occasions; it was all too hard. Perhaps I should let it go. Just quit.

The best writing tip I ever received was; “It’s not always the finest writer that rises to the top, but the one who perseveres.” I don’t remember where I read it, or who said it, but those few words gave me the courage and inspiration to continue, in spite of my early misgivings toward my perceived skill-set and talent.

You see, in perseverance we become superior at our craft. As our craft improves, we gain recognition in our field. When you have a message that needs to be heard, sometimes it doesn’t matter whether or not you’re a great writer. A great message can go a long way.

We all start somewhere and not all of us have a university education. Some of us take longer to reach our destination than others, but if we don’t quit, if we keep going, one day our dream will be realised and that’s in any endeavour, not just writing.

Aim to be the best in your field. Study every day and don’t quit. Keep going, even if you don’t see the desired results at first. Keep going, even when others around you quit.

To be the best in your field takes consistent action, study and improvement. To be the best writer is to practice, practice, practice. Read, study and write. Write every day. Write to a word count. Write when you’re sad, when you’re happy, when you don’t feel like it, when you’re too busy. Write, just because you love it. Do this and you shall rise above your colleagues.

Keep going and never quit. Become the best you can be and success will follow. As a writer of numerous articles, books and blogs, I know the value of perseverance. Don’t think you don’t have what it takes, instead, learn to do what it takes. Your time will come, for as it says in the bible; the soul of a lazy man desires, and has nothing; but the soul of the diligent shall be made rich. (Proverbs 13:4).

Doggedness, dedication and diligence. A no quit attitude. Persevere and practice. And don’t stop until you receive the prize. Follow the tips and guidance of those who’ve gone before you and remember, it’s not always the finest writer that rises to the top, but the one who perseveres.