Weeding out

Just as the enemy sewed tares (weeds) among the wheat, he will relentlessly try to sew negative thoughts within us. Whenever you have a thought that is making you feel bad –especially if it’s negatively framed toward yourself or another person, or feeding anxiety and doubt- ask yourself if the thought is actually scripturally true and justified. Much of the time, you’ll realise it’s a piece of unnecessary garbage, left by the enemy. Just throw it out with the rest of the trash J

Love JM x

When. Poem for Women

When

When you can stare fear in its dreadful face
And face it with expected triumph
When you treat your seen enemies with grace
And even extend to showing them love,
When you can leave critics in the foreground
While you press on ahead
Knowing their words are merely stepping stones
For your ground
Not worthy to trouble your head,
When you can recognize fading physical charms
As merely a veil for the greater beauty
When you can use life’s silent alarms
To equip you with strength and with duty,
When after moments of mourning we all traverse,
You can seek out cause again to smile,
When with an aged head you act
In matters of tact,
Yet in guile remain as a child,
When you have the lion-like loins to hold fast by yourself
In matters where conviction demands
Yet as well as your own, seek the good of all else
Knowing solitude, self- interest
Are for fearful hearts and idle hands.
When you live life with eyes wide open, yet a heart the same,
Not left bitter by past foes who’ve hurt you…
Then truly you’ve become a woman, my friend,
And one of great wisdom and virtue.

Ripped off from   Inspired by Rudyard Kipling’s ‘If’

Books I need to read

(I don’t read novels -only factual books; books on teaching, essays and biographies . I love beautifully written prose, but only really when it's teaching something about reality. That being said, some of my fave books are the fictional -Christian themed children's series  Anne of Greengables by L.M. Montgomery. ) There are always exceptions within one’s scope of discernment

Malcolm Gladwell, What the Dog saw: And other Adventures

-Because I love this author and I’ve read all of his other  books thus far. They are interesting and reveal so much of the quirks of human nature and explain the weirdness of our world and social workings.

Jung Chan, Wild Swans

-Because I love reading people's life stories- especially when it shows the history of different family generations. And I love learning about Chinese culture.

Ken Robinson, The Element: How finding Your Passion Changes Everything

-Because he is a renowned educationalist and I’ve been impressed by some of his other commentaries. And because I want to know how to find and use my own ‘passion’

Brendan Burchard, Activating the 10 Human Drives that Make You Feel Alive

-Yeah, I’m into my motivation-based books. And this one’s Apostolic. Bonus

Devora  Zack, Networking for People Who Hate Networking

Apparently a really good book for introverts such as myself to embrace and make good use of this character trait. Also good for extroverts to read and understand more about their introvert loved ones.

Robyn O’brien, The Unhealthy Truth

Another recommended read about understanding the widespread occurrence of allergies and illnesses such as ADHD these days, and how to improve lifestyle and health.

Hey young girl...

Hello young girl,

How are you today? I hope you are well... Even despite this world’s ability to leave you feeling very unhappy. So you don’t think you’re important? Go look outside, you’ll see a great shining Sun, if it’s daytime, or a great beaming moon if its night.

...You were on God’s mind when he formed these. They were specifically made for you –just to take care of you, show you beauty, warmth and seasons. And this is only a tiny example of all the things He’s done because He so loves and adores you.

There is a part of you that is responding when you see awe-inspiring elements of his artwork for you –sunsets, blue skies, stars. That part of you is your soul. In actuality -this is you, but you're stored inside skin. And because someone doesn’t want you to realise you are an infinitely precious soul, he has found many clever ways to distract you from the fact. He creates an obsession in you with this skin that covers you. He does this to keep you short-sighted, unhappy and always comparing yours with the ‘skin’ of others.

This person is called the devil and he is very clever. Though he can’t read your mind, he can disguise his voice and put things into your mind. He offers you thoughts such as “I’m ugly’” “I’m worthless” “I’m not good enough.” And because he is so clever he can make you feel these lying thoughts are valid and true. In fact, he’s become so good at it, he’s managed to pull this trick on most people at one point or another. He even got someone who was perfect and God-like to feel as if they were not enough/didn’t have enough (Genesis 3:5).

...So, what should you do? How can you tell which thoughts this devil person is implanting into your mind? Well, all you need to do is make sure you know what the truth sounds like...

...then when you hear the devil's lies, it is easy to spot them and reject them.

Amen. The end. xxx

I used to save newspaper clippings when something intriguing would happen in the news. Isn't this one nice? It was after the awful great earthqauke in Haiti a couple years ago. Isn't it interesting that the survivor claimed someone in a 'white coat' was bringing him water?! I don't know what that really must've been. All I can say is thank God for miracles. And thank God for his goodness toward men.

Ms. Mansfield. Poem

Did your powerful hold

Of many simple men’s eyes

Make you feel like you were maybe worth a mite more?

Did your unbridled burning and raging pride,

Make you forget

A mortal man cannot escape the mortal law?

Did your desire for more lovers to adore

your countenance of perfection

And enter your temple

To worship the terrible god

who demanded its erection

Make you forget

that desire is not always kin to true affection?

Ms. Mansfield, knowing the way you’d fall prey to the cold grip of death

Would you have wanted it for one of those

 you once had to share your bed?

(*Jayne Mansfield was a stunning Hollywood actress who thrived on male attention and sexual sadism. She was also a keen Satan worshipper and high priestess in the Church of Satan. Other members were such well known performers as Sammy Davis Jr, Marilyn Monroe and in the present day ‘rock star’ Marilyn Manson among others. These people actively worshipped/worship the devil.      

   After tiring of her lover and lawyer, Sam Brody, Jayne ordered for a ritual curse to be put on him to cause his death. Eerily enough, this appeared to come to pass as Mr. Brody died in a freak car accident a while after. However, Jayne was in the car with him and she also died. Aquino, the leader of the Church of Satan who put this ‘curse’ on Brody, openly credits himself with Brody’s death and says Mansfield was just in the wrong place at the wrong time!)

Dear oh dear

Who is he? Poem

Who is he who looks

To this world and its trinkets, to try

To distract or satisfy

His weary soul, And appease his ravenous eye?

The same one who rejects truths for comfortable lies…

He is not one who is wise

Who is he who allows the compass of his soul

To be swayed by the judgments of his peers

Though no wiser than he,

No more accomplished in years?

Misguided through youth by ephemeral ties…

He is not one who is wise

Who is he who disregards the soul

Never looking beyond what is seen with eyes?

Living for his body’s hungers

Which are as ceaseless as skies

Running to and fro in search of a natural things that satisfies?

...He is not one who is wise.

Baptism. Necessary?

There are some who hold that baptism isn’t a must when becoming a Christian, and that as long as you ‘believe in your heart’, you will automatically become a part of the kingdom of God. However, Jesus made clear that belief is the first step in a process –for if you believe Him, you’ll then faithfully do all the things he instructs. He gave the clear instruction of believing (and also ‘repenting’, i.e turning one’s back on life without Him), and then being baptised. In Mark 16:16, Jesus says “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved: but he that believeth not shall be condemned.”

Jesus Himself was baptized (although He had no sin to remit) to set the example to us. He impressed the importance of it upon His apostles, (‘apostles’ = followers of Jesus, handpicked by Him to spread the message of Christ) saying in Matthew 28:19 “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:”

The apostles continued teaching the importance of baptism and carrying it out as Jesus instructed. Baptism is a divine process where one is ‘reborn’ into a new life (Colossians 2:12) where sin no longer dominates. When explaining to a very large, multicultural (- n.b. would spread to ‘all nations’) crowd of people about the power of Christ’s Church, Peter, a most notable disciple of Jesus says “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins…” (Acts 2:28).Fleeing sin is the principal theme of Christianity. Thus the inward repentance which allows the sin to be remitted and the outward baptism in response to this, must be essential.

In the New Testament recorded early Church, those who Jesus had personally taught and directly sent to carry his message were successful in relating how essential the ‘repentance plus baptism’ process is; to the effect that those who were touched by the message of Jesus, and desired to become Christian were baptized straight away. The account is told of an Ethiopian intellectual who once having the account of Jesus’ life explained to him, insisted on being baptized as soon as he and the apostle teaching him came upon some water; saying “See here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?” (Acts 8:36). Similarly, it is told of a jailor of a prison wherein two apostles had been held. He asked them what to do to be saved; he was told to believe in Jesus “and was baptized, he and all his, straightway.”(Acts 16:33)

Many nominal churches sweep aside the importance of baptism, stating that becoming a Christian is solely from an internal moving of faith. However, love is a verb, an active process. The Bible says “faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone” (James 2:17), showing that inward belief must go hand in hand with external action.

Some say baptism isn’t necessary as it is merely symbolic. It is indeed symbolic –of being ‘born again’ and being ‘buried’ and ‘rising’ with Jesus, who set the example for us. However it is not ‘merely’ a symbol, as the Bible shows it is the critical point of the new beginning of the converted person taking effect. If baptism were not essential, the forefathers of the early Church, who had been taught directly by Jesus would not have gone out of their way to carry it out with everyone who wished to be saved; and they wouldn’t have taken the time to record it all.

Some ask, “well what if a person decided they want to become a Christian but they are hit by a bus before they get a chance to ‘seal the deal’ with baptism?”. This question is dubious because God is “a just God and a saviour” (Isaiah 45:21) and if he ever did allow such a bizarre thing to happen, He knows why. Our job is not to question who will be saved (that’s between God and every individual), but to do all he instructs to ensure we, and those around us are

Discouragement V. Encouragement

Reasons why we get discouraged:

1.) Our flesh is trying to drag us back to our past (Numbers 11:5)

2.) People forsake/ betray us (2 Tim 4:16)

3.) We mistakenly feel God doesn’t care (Job 10:2-3)

4.) We feel inadequate (Judges 6:15,  Exodus 4:10)

5.) We feel like we can’t make it (Jonah 4:8)

6.) The things we fear come to torment us (Job 3:25)

7.) We feel alone/ as if no one cares (Ps102:7,  142:4)

8.) Someone has used words to hurt us (Proverbs 40:13)

9.) We have been corrected in a harsh way (Ps 6:1)

10.) It feels we’re running low on strength (Ps 109:24)

Solutions

1.) Fix your focus forward and upward! (Phil 3:13)

2.) Realise God stands with you (2 Tim 4:17)

3.) Remember God’s love is immeasurable (Rom 8:39)

4.) Declare God equips us for greatness (1 Sam 16:13)

5.) Acknowledge God is able to keep us (Jude 24)

6.) Allow God to shield you (Ps 27:1-3,  2 Tim 1:7)

7.) Embrace God as your comforter (Psalm 27:10)

8.) Let evil people speak their evil words. Know that God defends you (2 Sam 16:6-12)

9.) Learn to take (even undue) correction with humility (Prov 9:8)

10.) Refuel yourself in God! (Isaiah 40:31, Phil 4:13 )

You’re Loved Regardless. Poem

When you’ve felt rejected

By this world which can seem so cruel and heartless

Remember, in my heart you’re always accepted

I will love you regardless.

When you slip, and fall, and turn around

And fear the faces of those who saw your disgrace

You’ll see my arms coming to hold you as you’re on the ground

And lift you back to your rightful place.

‘Sticks and stones will break your bones…’

Though don’t tell me words are always harmless.

And when they try

To hurt you with words like knives, and lies,

Keep your head high

-You’re loved regardless.

When you’re overwhelmed by this world’s pressures

And it’s ever changing exactions of ‘perfection’

Even though you are exquisitely precious

You might forget your value.

You need someone to remind you how wholly you’re loved…

I’ll be the one to tell you.

...................................................................................

The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee. Jeremiah 31:3

Bible Study

Bible Study

Last in night in Bible school, we were looking at Matthew Chapter 10, verse 27, where Jesus tells the disciples;

“What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops.”

The ‘darkness’ being spoken of isn’t literal darkness. It refers to things being spoken of in a hidden way... Such as in Jesus’ use of parables. We know this ‘darkness’ means the hidden manner of speaking in parables and proverbs also by the following scriptures;

Psalms 78:2  I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old

Proverbs 1:6 To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings

So essentially Jesus is saying to his disciples they must openly –and clearly- share with everyone all the mysteries he tells them.

This truth is typified in the accounts of the feeding of the five thousand and seven thousand: Jesus blessed and broke the bread, then gave it to his disciples and it was their job to distribute it.

Do you notice throughout scripture, Jesus never gave anyone else the actual formula for salvation (the closest was where he told Nicodemus to be born again of the water and spirit) he only told the apostles. Then it was their job to go and tell the world.  

Also, see how Jesus didn’t just tell Paul how to be saved? He sent him to Ananias to find out.

This is how God continues to do things. It sometimes happens where God will personally speak to an unsaved person and send them to a church or to someone who is saved. But he doesn’t actually reveal to them how to be saved, because it is the job of his disciples (us).

So conclusively, Matthew 10:27 is a serious commission, that we must share the truths that Jesus reveals to us -once we are saved- with all and sundry.

 ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Peace love and blessings upon you all in the family x

Reach for me. Poem

I watched you today. In my house.

You sat forlorn and broken.

Far from the sounds of the joy around

And all the words being spoken.

You arms were crossed

Your heart was covered

With them like a veil of flesh

I earnestly wanted to whisper to you

Hold you

Love away all your mess

But you were closed off from all I had for you

Tuned out like a broken resistor

I even sent a word just for you

But you were so lost in your pity, you missed them.

And as you mourned for yourself

And your life’s plans

How ‘nothing’ is going your way

I was waiting for you to speak to me

So I could comfort you in some way

But you sat in my house, and refused to reach out

For my hand as it brushed by

Not feeling my warmth, just nothing at all

And you seemed to be wondering why

Relationship is a two-way treasure

And I’ve done all I can do

I’ve loved you with a love that kills me, seeing you so far.

The rest is up to you.

#“Reach out to me”

Nehemiah 1:9  But if ye turn unto me, and keep my commandments, and do them; though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there.

Malachi 3:7 Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the LORD of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return?

Tal poder en su voz...

Having a rare mooch around Myspace (yes, Myspace is still alive! Though Tom is just sat there on his own. Crying) for any decent Christian music and happen-chanced upon this lady’s page.  Listen to the LIVE (-en vivo) version of ‘Dios lo va hacer’ ¡Incréible!

Nimsy Lopez

http://www.myspace.com/nimsylo

Even if you don’t understand Spanish, the power coming through in her voice is un-ignorable. It’s inspiring when someone ministers and conveys such sincerity, authority and conviction. Singing should always be like this. You should be able to feel God in the voice. This is anointing.

And it’s not so much up to ‘self’. But it is essentially a matter of allowing oneself to be completely ‘handed over’ to God’s spirit, like a big UPS parcel being sent afar somewhere.

–I know that analogy is awful. #I'm sorry. But you know what I’m saying.

Live singing in service   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPOel72krdQ

Here are the lyrics -to enhance appreciation. (My Spanish isn’t perfect, so I apologise for any mistakes in the translation –true ‘Spanglophones’ feel free to send me corrections)...

Spanish

Si has perdido la fe y aun viendo no crees que los muros se han caido que no tienes que temer.
Si has perdido la fe y aun viendo tu no crees que los muros se han caido que no hay tiempo que perder.

Porque Dios lo va hacer, nadie lo va detener, solo confia en El y un milagro haz de ver.

No es momento de llorar es tiempo de descansar lo que Dios ha prometido, solo El lo cumplira No hay porque temer, su poder descubriras, solo levantate y camina que el milagro hecho esta.

Porque Dios lo va hacer y nadie lo va detener solo confia en El y un milagro haz de ver.
Solo Dios lo puede hacer solo Dios lo puede hacer, confia, confia en el y un milagro haz de ver,

Porque Dios lo va hacer y nadie lo va detener solo confia en El y un milagro haz de ver.
Solo Dios lo puede hacer, solo Dios lo puede hacer, confia, confia, confia en el, que mi Dios lo va hacer.

 English

If you have lost faith, and though you see, you don’t believe that the walls have fallen down, so you don’t have to fear

If you have lost faith, and though you see, you don’t believe that the walls have fallen down, so that there’s no time to waste...

Because God is going to do it, nobody can hinder it, just trust in Him and see a miracle

This isn’t time to mourn, this is the time to trust in what God has promised, only He can accomplish it

Because God is going to do it, nobody can hinder it, just trust in Him and see a miracle

Only God can do it, only God can do it, trust, trust in Him, that my God is going to do it

B-B-Bye the Byes xxxx

# not confusing emotional stirrings from listening to someone with a decent voice with the spiritual stirrings of actual true anointing being manifest

The 'Puzzle of Perfection'

God’s word is infinitely amazing and we will spend our whole lifetimes in daily revelation, experiencing –and realising more and more of- its truths.

The word is also like a jigsaw puzzle. And the more you study it and take corresponding pieces allocated in different places, the more you realise there is an unceasingly beautiful picture, constantly forming itself before you.

The quiet voice of the Holy Spirit which speaks within us daily tells us the words that aren’t explicitly written in the Bible –though they never contradict it-. And they vitally make up some of the pieces of the ‘whole’ puzzle.

Here’s a practical example of how this can work, as I experienced yesterday...

So, yeah, in the morn I was listening to an audio sermon of Joel Urshan, one of my favourite  an anointed preacher. The sermon was called ‘A Little Sanctuary’ (It’s from Jan 18^th 2009, and can be found here: http://www.firstap.org/mp3/firstapostolic.xml )

He began to speak of how God told Moses to build Him a sanctuary. He went on to discuss the tabernacle/tent that the children of Israel worshipped in and would carry with them. I could see the preaching was going there anyway, but I had the revelation (you know when you know you already know something, but God brings it to your conscience in a mind-blowing new way where you are truly realising what it’s about? Yeh, anyways) ...that we are now the living, moving tabernacle that God makes His spirit dwell in and where worship goes on and from which God receives great glory.

So, that unique construction, made out of wood and skins and perfectly ordered by God in all of its making and, most importantly,  where His spirit would rest –represented what He’d be doing with us. (And every single little element of the tabernacle represented something significant, but that’s another long post for another day)

Puzzle piece 1: Realising I am a tabernacle

 **********************************************************************************

Often when I’m out and about and travelling on the bus and such, I minister to myself internally. Just preaching to myself stuff of truth that simply pours out of the Spirit as I’m sat on the number 22. The words are so sweet and enriching, I know it sounds odd, but it’s as if I can really, literally, physically taste the words on my tongue. And it’s so delish! I know exactly what the writer is saying in Psalm 119:103 #dontbelazy,look it up

The other sensation that I can feel while all this is going on is the flow of the words going through me like a stream. In fact, that’s exactly what I told myself. “This feels like a stream just going right through me”, I said as I sat on the scuzzy bus.

Puzzle piece 2: The stream of God’s words go through me

Puzzle piece 3: Biblically how the stream and the tabernacle correspond...

So I went to church yester-eve and the scripture of the night was Psalm 46. Do you know what it says? Well, a lot of things, but here’s the verse that caught my little eye:

    4) There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High.

In light of revelations/realisations earlier that day, I could read the depth within this little sentence....

There is a river

-Which represents the moving Spirit of God     #John 7:38-39

The streams thereof

The words that flow from the river

Shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most high
-Simply referring to all of us

Since I know we are the tabernacles of the most high, the city of God  -where we reside- is a term for us as the collective group of God’s people. You’ll find the same concept in the NT, where the collective of God’s people is referred to as ‘the kingdom of God’. (Luke 17:21)

You could also say God is the ‘holy place’, as we dwell within Him. (John 14:20, John 15:4)

So Psalm 46:4 is essentially saying: The Holy Spirit gives words that flow from it, giving joy to the people of God who dwell in Him/ His presence.

...#Nice like spice.

So that’s my puzzle piecing for the day of Thurs.

I already loved Psalm 46, because the way it refers to His city as ‘her’ in verse 5 makes it easy to remember its talking about me/ us, so I used to recite it to myself regularly. I luvvit even more now. All smiles J

Bu-bye

#Remember the Word is yours. Study it and claim it