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.

'I'

SIN - only a three letter word but such a big thing. Sin is something which separates the unbeliever from the love of God but John 3:16 says
'For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life'

In other words Jesus death at calvary took care of SIN - my sin, your sin and one important thing about that word SIN is the middle letter I. You see I was the one that committed sin, nobody else did it for me, I did it but Jesus paid the penalty for the sins I committed by giving himself up to death so that I could be set free from sin. I'm so glad I repented of my sin and asked him to be my Saviour and Lord at an early age.

You see sometimes it becomes more difficult the older a person gets to accept who Jesus is and sometimes the reason for that is -

PRIDE - Pride is a strange thing. A person can become too proud to admit that they have a problem, too proud to think that they have need of a Saviour and did you notice there's that letter again, right at the centre of PRIDE - I.
A person can become so proud that they believe they are good people, not sinners, and that God will not allow them to go to hell, but the bible says 'For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God' (Romans 3:2). Every person no matter who they are have sinned, God says so Romans 6:23 says For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Because He loves us He also made a way for us to be free from that sin - But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).

If you are reading this and realise that you are a sinner then don't let pride stand in your way, repent of your sin - turn away from doing what you know to be wrong and start following the one one who is always right - The Lord Jesus Christ. 'I', will not then be at the centre of your life but He who is the great I AM will be.

The LORD bless thee, and keep thee:
The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:
The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.
(Numbers 6:24-26

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

The Word of the Lord is Pure

Psalm 12:6
The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.

The Lord showed me through this verse that even as a Christian I need to have my words purifed. Sometimes I can say things that I don't realise are hurtful to another person. I can say things that puff me up, make me proud but always the Lord is there to show me that my words need to be refined - I need to be refined - and what a faithful God I have who shows me the way.

You see I have a little craft unit where I make enamelled jewellery. I work in copper and when I've sifted on the enamel powders I put the piece of copper into the kiln which has been heated to around 750 deg C. The reddy orange glow from the kiln lets you know it is hot - very hot.
I'm reminded of what it must have been like for Shadrach, Meschach and Abnego when they were bound and thrown down into the fiery furnace. Far hotter, I am sure, than my little kiln. I know what the heat feels like when I open my kiln door and can imagine just how hot it must have been for these young men. But do you know what, they weren't in that furnace alone, the Lord himself was with them.

Now I have always wanted to work with silver to do my enamelling on but it works differently to copper. In sterling silver there are a lot of impurities and you have to ensure that the impurities burn away. This is done by heating the silver in the kiln until the impurities rise to the surface, then taking it out it is quenching in water. It then has to be cleaned before being put into the kiln again. This is done a few times before the silver is purified and fine enough to be enamelled.

I have many a disaster trying to work with the silver, often I leave it too long and it melts completely. It looks lovely when I see it in the kiln all liquidy and shiney but the minute I take it out is solidifies and sticks to the mesh that I have been firing it on and I see the impurities on the surface. But through these processes that I use the Lord has shown me that I still need to be put into the furnace from time to time.

He has shown me that my words need to be purified - I need to be purified - and just as I go through the refining fire I know that I am not alone, Jesus is with me.

I am reminded each time I put my kiln on that the Lord continues to refine and try me; to put me through the flame so that the impurities in my life are burned away.

When thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel (Isaiah 43: 1-3)

Posted by Jean

My posts

I am trying to get all of my thoughts and writings into my own blog and some of those I have just posted have been taken from other blogs I've written for so if you think you've read them before and were perhaps encouraged I hope they will again encourage you.

I can see clearly now

Driving along the Shenstone Road I suddenly saw a house that had a FOR SALE sign outside and the words SOLD in big letters across it.

I saw another 2 houses further along the road and realized I hadn't even noticed these before - so why, I asked myself, did I see them now.

Was it just the the bright For Sale sign that had caught my attention or the very bold Sold written across the sign - NO - very simply it was winter.
I usually travelled this road in the summer when the sun was shining and when the leaves on the trees were full and green. There was a row of bushes and hedges along the roadside too. These houses were hidden from view by the summer foliage - but now it was winter, the trees had shed their leaves and I could see the houses clearly through the spaces between the branches.

The Lord showed me that we need the warmth of the summer months to keep us going but when summer is here we can be too busy doing other things, the gardens need tending, the sun shines and we go out for the day, and come home and spend long hours sitting outside with friends or family and we can be busy being so busy that we neglect to spend our time with the Lord and we don't see things clearly.

In winter time it's different - if you are anything like me you stay home, the nights have grown darker and colder and all I want to do is stay in the warmth,. I find that I want to spend more time in the warmth of His love too and I read my bible more, and talk to the Lord more and because of this I can see more clearly what he wants for me.

Even the hedge along the roadside brought to mind that sometimes we can put a hedge up around our life. If things are difficult we may not want to let others in or want them to see that we are struggling with something. The hedge gets bigger and bigger as it grows and it too can prevent us from seeing things clearly. If the hedge in our life is cut down we are exposed, others will see the struggles that we may be experiencing and the Lord can allow these people to come alongside and help us. We can also see more clearly where the Lord wants us to be.

But just think there will come a day when we will be able to see the Lord face to face.

For now we see through a glass, darkly, but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known 1 Cor 13:12)

Yes, a bunch of sweet Peas. I can't take the credit for this but I'd like to share with you this bunch of Sweet Peas, Gathered from Psalm 23. I read this on a card I'd received from someone ...

Possession - The Lord is my shepherd

Provision - I shall not want

Position - He maketh me to lie down

Privilege - In green pastures

Preservation - He restoreth my soul

Progress - He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness

Peace - I will fear no evil

Presence - Thou art with me

Preparation - Thou preparest a table before me

Plenty - My cup runneth over

Pursuit - Goodness and mercy shall follow me

Prospect - I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever