STOP TO REMEMBER

A voice is heard in Rama, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more. Matthew 2:18

Two days ago, I happened to stumble through the above passages twice in one reading. First, I read them from Jeremiah 31:15, then moments later, I read them again from Matthew. Of course with Christmas round the corner, we all need to remind ourselves of Christ, Our Saviour’s birth from scripture.

But while the birth of Jesus brought so much joy for some, for others it brought pain and great loss… the demise of little boys. Boys who could probably have been Jesus’ neighbours and playmates. Just imagine… when Jesus came back from hiding in Egypt, most of his agemates were all dead and gone. Yes… killed by Herod in the hope that Jesus was among them.

Just like during Christ’s birth, today STOP TO REMEMBER those mothers whose pain and loss will only be magnified this Christmas as they miss their sons and daughters… especially those who are out in war or the fallen heros. STOP AND SAY a prayer and remember…Christmas just like in the actual Christ’ birth will not necessarily bring joy to everyone.

STOP TO REMEMBER…those voices weeping in the land.

 

 

 

MY LIGHT IS ON

The people walking in darknesss have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned. Isaiah 9:2

My Advent candlelight is on. As we countdown to Christmas so many lights of all shapes and colours will or are already on. But more than the light we see with our natural eyes… there is another LIGHT. The LIGHT OF THE WORLD.

You see, unlike the lights on our Christmas trees and streets, the LIGHT OF THE WORLD is always on. He knows His light has nothing to do with a festive season marked somewhere in our earthly calender. His light shines the most in our darkest moments, through our hurts, pain and disappointment. Let the light beacon on your heart this Christmas…and may it take over and lead you as you move forward into a new season.

For once you were darkness, but now you are LIGHT in the LORD. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, rightneousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Ephesians 5:8-10

MY LIGHT IS ON!

 

 

 

 

 

THE DWELLING PLACE

If you make the Most High your dwelling- even the Lord, who is my refuge- then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near you. Psalm 91:9-10

The other day I got to read Psalm 91 but incredibly it was the two verses above that drew my attention. For most of us Psalms 91 speaks volumes. But for me… in a different way God made me see another point: THE DWELLING PLACE and my choice in it either as a permanent residence or an occasional visitor.

You see, when things are going our way, our plans are following into place, our enemies are at peace with us… we tend to stray away from our DWELLING PLACE. We find pleasure in other temporary places which seem to offer the best deals and service. There seems to be no danger around us.

Then trouble strikes! We are bruised and broken. Then we remember…yes, there was a place for hiding. There was a shelter in SOMEONE greater than our troubles. What the Lord wanted me to understand was; as His Child, my home was with and in Him. I am not a guest but a permanent residence in His DWELLING PLACE. But I have to make the choice to stay and enjoy all the benefits that comes with the place.

Maybe like me, you have strayed from THE DWELLING PLACE. COME BACK HOME… the FATHER IS WAITING!!!!

PRAY FOR JERUSALEM!

I have posted watchmen on your wall, O Jerusalem; they will never be silent day or night. You who call on the Lord, give yourselves no rest and give him no rest till he establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth. Isaiah 62:6-7

There is one thing that Jerusalem is not … not yet – THE PRAISE OF THE EARTH. But it’s just a matter of time and what we only read in the Bible will one day become  a FACT. Yes…. JERUSALEM. Its now a little over a week when the Lord first impressed these words into my heart. Of course, I pray for Jerusalem. But it’s an off and on kind of praying. I pray when I remember or  when I see unrest in the Middle East.

The Lord began showing me His desire…. for a FULL HOUSE.

Salvation first belongs to the Jew, then to the Gentile. The bread is for the children and the breadcrumbs are for the others. The glory is theirs, the light of revelation is ours. You see, without a FULL HOUSE, we cannot quite grasps the fullness of GOD. Until JERUSALEM is established….we are not there yet. Pray for her…. PRAY FOR JERUSALEM.… the City of God .

 

 

 

GOD – MY REAR GUARD

ISAIAH 52:12 But you will not leave in haste or go in flight; for the LORD will go before you, for the GOD OF ISRAEL will be YOUR REAR GUARD.

According to Collins dictionary… a REARGUARD is a detachment detailed to protect the rear of a military formation, esp. in retreat.

It is one thing to trust in the Lord at the beginning of a journey… it’s another to see Him when you arrive at your destination. Think about Job. Then again…think about me…and yes…think about yourself. When God spoke to me those words from Isaiah 52:12 on that cold February day of 2010…I had imagined that the journey ahead could be nothing but smooth sailing. But…how wrong things had proven to be. No…the fact is God had sent us packing. And Yes, for the record…He had kept part of HIS DEAL.

But there was a problem…for months on end…I didn’t seem to see where He was. I didn’t understand the silence. The battle ranged and like Job…I challenged Him as if He was my equal. The battle became evermore fierce…and my will to fight slowly began to slip away. GOD, WHERE ARE YOU? My soul cried out to Him. He didn’t answer. He didn’t sent a word in season. It became dry and parchy. The pain was unbearable.

“I HAVE BEEN WATCHING YOUR BACK” God whispered to my quietened soul last week, over 2 years since He had spoken those words from Isaiah. Yes, He had been MY REARGUARD. My life…that is, my soul had been left intact. The chaff had been separated from the wheat. The battle was over and I was on my way home. From now on

Psalms 147:13-14 HE WILL STRENGTHEN THE BARS OF MY GATES AND BLESS MY PEOPLE WITHIN ME. HE WILL GRANT PEACE TO MY BORDERS AND SATISFY ME WITH THE FINEST OF WHEAT.

It doesn’t matter at what point you are in your journey…and how fierce the battle may seem ahead of you…if God sent you out…He watching over your life…He will meet you at the end and you will be victorous in Him.

GOD IS IN THIS PLACE…

Genesis 28:16 When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, ‘Surely the LORD IS IN THIS PLACE, and I was not aware of it.”

I just opened my email randomly this morning…and was excited to find a reply email from my blogging friend, Dora from Hong Kong. As I began to read her mail…tears began welling up in my eyes. But one sentence…one sentence in her email….made the tears begin to flow down my cheeks unstoppable. She was praying for me…and my family. She was praying for the very things…I have been praying for privately, and which I wouldn’t have thought of sharing with people outside my inner circle. Then, God took me back to Jacob’s encounter. Yes….GOD IS IN THIS PLACE…and I didn’t know not. It was as if…God was telling me….that He knows my thoughts ten years from now. He knows….what I will think, ask or do….come ten days, weeks or years down the room. GOD IS IN THIS PLACE….not because He comes and goes….God is in the place when I am at the present, God is in the place where I have been in the past, God is in the place where I will be in the future.

The tears are unstoppable, friends. GOD IS IN THIS PLACE…as He was with Jacob, so He is with each and everyone who looks up to Him…and even when we are unaware of it….GOD IS IN THIS PLACE.

THANKSGIVING!

Today, I give thanks for the Lord’s goodness and promises over my life. I remember…and lift up my voice in JOYFUL SURRENDER. He that promised is well able to bring into completion what He began in you and me. Join me as I rejoice in Him and through Him.

God will bring you and me to OUR DESIRED HAVEN:

Psalms 107:28-30
Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress. He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed. They they were GLAD when it grew calm, and he guided them to THEIR DESIRED HAVEN.

You and I offer Him OUR THANKSGIVING:

Psalm 107:31-32
We gave THANKS to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for me. We EXALT him in the assembly of the people and praise him in the council of elders.

I don’t know at what point you are in life, but remember…He is still MIGHTY to save, heal, deliver, restore and make all things NEW! Come to His Gates with praise and to His Courts with THANKSGIVING! Say…the Lord is good and His mercies endures forever. Rejoice, rejoice and again, rejoice!

GLORY TO OUR KING, now and forevermore!

GOD’S MEETING PLACE

Psalm 76:1-2 In JUDAH God is known; his name is great in ISRAEL. His tent is in SALEM, his dwelling-place in ZION.

Does God have a meeting place? Where did you or do you meet with God? Even though we might not realize it, when we come to meet with God, we meet Him…in either of these four places mentioned in Psalm 76.

In JUDAH God is known…represents your first meeting place with God…where you recognize that you are a sinner in need of a Saviour. It is by KNOWING and calling upon that name that you receive salvation. Judah, in other words represent the PERSONAL MEETING PLACE BETWEEN GOD AND AN INDIVIDUAL.

John 17:26 I have made you known to them and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.

Joel 2:32 And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved; for on the Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the Lord has said, among the survivors whom the Lord calls.

His Name is great in ISRAEL….represents the place where God meets you, not as an individual but as a part of a nation. Abraham met God as an individual…but his descendants, Israel down in Egypt meet Him as a nation. He addressed and dealt with them, as a nation. Hence, in other words, ISRAEL represents THE CORPORATE MEETING PLACE BETWEEN GOD AND NATIONS.

Isaiah 44:6 This is what the Lord says_ Israel’s King and Redeemer, the Lord Almighty: I am the FIRST and I am the LAST; apart from me there is NO GOD.

A THREE-WORDED INCOMPLETE SENTENCE

I woke up this morning…in the midst of an unfinished dream. I rarely dream…much less, dreams which are God orchestrated. But I have had two very vivid dreams which have had very significant meaning in my life. Today’s dream, I felt was from God…but the strange thing about it was I couldn’t recall any single fact or scene from that dream. Yet when I woke up mid-way…this three-worded incomplete sentence was hanging on my lips: SEASONED WITH GRACE.

I don’t know what that means….or what the Lord has in mind….but I will be listening…or I will lie still in bed and let Him, speak! Oh, He has something in store…that I know. Meanwhile, I will leave you with this very familiar verse which talks about the same as I heard;

COLOSSIANS 4:6 LET YOUR SPEECH ALWAYS BE WITH GRACE, SEASONED WITH SALT, THAT YOU MAY KNOW HOW YOU OUGHT TO ANSWER EACH OTHER.

THE POWER OF LOVE

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 LOVE is patient, LOVE is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. LOVE does not delight in evil but rejoices with THE TRUTH. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. LOVE NEVER FAILS.

As promised, I have attached the email a friend sent me a couple of months ago. Please click on MOTHER TERESA below and let her words challenge, provoke and stir your heart into the right direction. When you are through, click Esc to exit. God bless you.

motherteresa