You are beautiful

This is what greeted us as we arrived at the 'Cherish' Conference and I have to say I had the most fantastic four days. I have always wondered about these huge conferences and wasn't quite sure what to expect but the teaching was excellent and the praise and worship very moving. 
One of the speakers was Lucinda Dooley.  Lucinda showed a picture of her mum on the big screen and said that her mum had left her a beautiful legacy of faith.  She went on to ask what kind of legacy we would leave and this really did bless me.
Lucinda went on to say much more. She said that we ought to be leaving a lasting legacy. Her mum could have left a negative legacy and if that was your mum and you'd been caused a hurt the Jesus is the restorer of the soul and you can honour your mum just because she's give you life.
We needed to be leaving something of real worth and value, a good foundation for those coming after you.
She stressed the need to get our children to church so that they can get through seasons of challenge and said that every choice we made would take us somewhere and that we needed to ensure the choices we made were not selfish. If we made the right choices then we would be leaving a spiritual inheritance for our children's children.
Paul, she said, left a lasting legacy of genuine faith. We need to do the same. This genuine faith needs to be a raging fire. A real fire spreads fast and is difficult to contain and this is what we need to do, fan into flame the fire on the inside of us.  I would love to be able to explain in more detail what she said with the scriptures she used but I hope the little bit I've shared will be a blessing to you.

Quite a number of years ago I visited a little gospel mission in my home town and met a lovely lady called Hilda.  It turned out Hilda knew my family and with tears in her eyes told me that to see me going on with the Lord was such a blessing to her.  Apparently as a young girl she remembered my great, grandmother and said how much she loved the Lord and that she was such a great prayer warrior.  She remembered my grandma Murray praying for her children's children.  This was a huge blessing to me and even more so after listening to Lucinda Dooley asking what type of legacy we would leave behind.
I have a very clear memory of seeing my great grandmother.  I remember my aunt Vi taking me as a young child to visit someone in hospital. I remember the room having an old fashioned metal bed and the walls being painted white with a small window with bars across it in the corner of the room.  In the bed was a very frail old lady and as I got older I realised that this had been my great grandmother and my aunt Vi confirmed it.

I determined after this message from Lucinda that I wanted to leave behind the type of legacy my great grandmother had left; one of faith in a Saviour who loved her and one of praying for her children's children.
I have three of the most beautiful grandchildren and am blessed that they are growing up with Christian parents, but I shall still be praying that the Lord will have his hand upon their life just as he has had on mine all these years. What a wonderful and most awesome Saviour Jesus Christ is.

Just chillin' out with a cuppa before going into conference.

FAITH - Forsaking all I Trust Him

There have been times in my Christian life when I've worried that I've lost my salvation. Times when I'd let the Lord down and wondered if I'd committed so great a sin that the Lord had written me off, had crossed my name out of the Lamb's book of life.
I'd listened to preachers talk about stirring up the gifts of the spirit and wondered why I felt flat and unusable and it was times like these I thought of myself as an Esau, who had sold his birthright for a morsal of meat and although he had sought it and shed tears he found no place of repentance (Gen 25:27-34).
I wondered if I had got to a point in my life when even though I had asked to be filled with the Holy Spirit, nothing happened; I asked myself the question 'am I lukewarm, has my flame gone out'.
I tried to fan this flame but something was missing and I just didn't know what it was.
Those were the times that I began to feel so alone and sort of sorry for myself - but I knew deep down I was never alone and I'm thankful that the Lord reminded me of something he told me at the start of my Christian walk with him.

"The just shall live by faith (Heb 10:38), by His faith - Hab 2:4 his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith - not by feelings.
My feelings get me into all kinds of trouble, I don't feel saved, I don't feel as if I've any gifts, I don't feel the Lord can use me, I don't feel as if I have the Holy Spirit with me and the list goes on.
But you know a little faith goes a long way, Jesus said in Mark 27:20 that faith as small as a mustard seed can remove mountains. Did you hear that, FAITH as SMALL as a mustard seed can REMOVE mountains. Not just move the mountain that is before you or I but can REMOVE it. Take it out of the way completely, gone forever.
And this is what the Lord continues to show me. I may not feel of of any use at all some days but I haven't got to worry about it because the Bible, God's word says 'I have' - I have salvation, I have the gifts of the spirit, I have all of this because of Jesus, because of what he did, because of his shed blood, because he loved me enough to die for me and because he was obedient to death on a cross.
So what is FAITH? Paul says in Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen...
Do read this chapter of Hebrews -  it let me see how much faith these old testament people had in God. They didn't rely on any feelings they just had faith.
I wrote as the title for these words FAITH -  'Forsaking all I trust Him'. I read this acrostic some time ago and surely this is faith.

Trusting our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. We have to stay close to Jesus, and close to the word, and listen.
I realised that it was the voice of the enemy telling me these things, telling me I wasn't saved, I was of no use. He'd much prefer it if Christians got so hung up about not doing, not feeling, not having something because then it makes his job easier. If we listen to the voice of the enemy we would never have faith, we would never be a victorious people and we ARE victorious we have that liberty because of what Christ did at Calvary.

I'm reminded of the beautiful hymn by Eugene Barlett - Victory in Jesus (listen to it here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_K7JiUEl23E or read the words ..
I heard an old, old story, How a Savior came from glory,
How He gave His life on Calvary, To save a wretch like me;
 I heard about His groaning, Of His precious blood's atoning,
Then I repented of my sins And won the victory.
Chorus
O victory in Jesus, My Savior, forever.
He sought me and bought me, With His redeeming blood;
He loved me ere I knew Him, And all my love is due Him,
He plunged me to victory, Beneath the cleansing flood.

I heard about His healing, Of His cleansing pow'r revealing.
How He made the lame to walk again And caused the blind to see;
And then I cried, "Dear Jesus, Come and heal my broken spirit"
And somehow Jesus came and bro't To me the victory.

Chorus

I heard about a mansion He has built for me in glory.
And I heard about the streets of gold, Beyond the crystal sea;
About the angels singing, And the old redemption story,
And some sweet day I'll sing up there The song of victory.

Chorus

Faith is simply believing that Jesus is - is who he said he is, the son of God, come to this earth to die for the sins of the world.
Faith is knowing he will accomplish in my life all that he set out to do - to make me more like him - to make you more like him -
Whatever I am going through, whatever I am feeling or not feeling I KNOW that my redeemer liveth and I will one day see him face to face.
I know because I have faith. Faith in Jesus. FORSAKING ALL I TRUST HIM

Faith as small as a mustard seed

The Lord has been speaking to me such a lot lately about 'faith'. I even bought myself a necklace that had been made to look like a mustard seed because the verse in Mark meant such a lot to me. I may write on some of the other things that the Lord has shown me regarding 'faith' but what I want to share today is -
I had been looking at some books at church that folk had donated and one that caught my eye was Ever Increasing Faith by Smith Wigglesworth. I put some coins into the pot and brought the book home.
The very first page quoted the verse in Mark 11:23,24 For verily I say unto you, that whosoever shall say unto this mountain, be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto you, what things soever ye desire when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.

As I read the verse and then began to read the chapter in Smith's book one word leapt out at me that I'd not really noticed before in the verse. 'Removed'.
Whenever I read about this passage it seemed to be saying 'faith can move mountains' and I'd always thought that was what it said but the actual King James reading says 'whosoever shall say unto this mountain, be thou removed ...
Smith Wigglesworth was a great man of faith, he prayed for many a sick person and they were healed, in faith he believed without question that God would answer his prayer. He took Jesus as his word. A short paragraph in his book says of the verse in Mark ... 'Jesus here uses the figure of a mountain. Why does He say a mountain? Because if faith can remove a mountain, it can remove anything. The plan of God is so marvellous that if you will only believe, all things are possible'.
The Lord has certainly opened my eyes to this truth - and the verse in Luke 17:6 tells it this way And the Lord said, if ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.

Plucked up by the root - removed - isn't our Lord wonderful to give us words like this to show us what even the smallest amount of faith can do. We need to grasp hold of what the word is saying to us so next time you pray for someone or something, remember these verses in Mark and Luke - I will.
I just want to finish with what Smith goes on to say at the end of the first chapter of his book.

I believe there are great many people who would be healed, but they are harboring things in their hearts that are as a blight. Let these things go. Forgive and the Lord will forgive you. There are many good people, people that mean well, but they have no power to do anything for God. There is just some little thing that came in their hearts years ago, and their faith has been paralyzed since. Bring everything to the light. God will sweep it all away if you will let Him. Let the precious blood of Christ cleanse from all sin. If you will but believe, God will meet you and bring into your lives the sunshine of His love.