A Heart Untroubled

Have you ever felt under attack when you've begun to do something the Lord has told you to do? It can be very challenging. You may consider whether you are doing the right thing and even be tempted to give up, but before you do, consider the word of God! The bible tells us that it contains examples for us, so we can learn from them. So many times, we see people who could simply have given up..Esther, Joseph, Noah, even Jesus, faced such intense opposition when doing what God told them to do. Nehemiah, also faced opposition, but I love this verse " When all our enemies heard about it, and all the [Gentile] nations around us saw it, they lost their confidence; for they recognised that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God . " Nehemiah 6:16 When we start a work for the Lord, problems will come, people will rise against us, but ultimately when we stick to what God has purposed for us, when we trust God, we will finish the work, and then those who att

Have you ever thought about why we are called Christians?   The term literally means 'Little Christ' or 'Belonging to the party/group of Christ'.  The bible tells us Christians were first called by that name in Antioch.   I have heard people say that it was a derogatory slur and I have seen people that say it was not bad, but was indicative that the people in Antioch distinguished between every other sect or group in the city and came up with this new terminology.    Either way, it referred to a very specific group of people that were clearly recognised by others.   Today often we hear people describe themselves as 'Christian' simply because of the nation they live in.  When asked for their religion, people will often site a denomination 'catholic' or 'baptist' or whatever, but the truth is that a true Christian is one who looks like Jesus!   Not of course physically, but in our conduct, our actions Paul told us in 1 Corinthians (more than once)

This week I have been thinking about the difference between things you take hold of straight away, and things you need to tend to before you see fruit.  I am not sure that's exactly the right way to say it, but I hope it will make sense when I am done.   I'm thinking about maybe an apple pie and an apple seed!  If someone gives you an apple pie, it can be eaten.  You don't need to do anything to it (except maybe add cream or custard!! 😊 ). In the same way, Jesus gives us salvation.  When we get saved, accepting Christ as our Saviour,  we don't need to go over and over that point. We don't need to get saved every day.  It's like the apple pie.  It is ready to eat.  Christ made it for us.  It's immediate. We move from darkness to light in an instant. God's gift of salvation is a completed action in one sense; we can take hold of it right away, but there are aspects of that salvation (healing, prosperity. peace, wisdom etc) that we will need to plant like

Happy New Year to you all!    I pray that 2022 brings you closer in your walk with Jesus, that you see more of the power of God in your life, and you grow in confidence to reach out to those around you with God's unconditional love and compassion. Today I want to tell you about a powerful tool or weapon I have discovered.  PEACE! John 14:1 is my favourite scripture.  It says LET NOT YOUR HEART BE TROUBLED The word troubled means: to agitate, to cause one inward commotion, take away a person's calmness of mind, disturb his equanimity, to disquiet, make restless, to stir up, to trouble, to strike one's spirit with fear and dread, to render anxious or distressed, to perplex the mind of one. The news has become adept at pumping out fear or agitation.  but Jesus commanded us (LET NOT is a command) to not let our hearts be troubled.    We choose whether to absorb what the world shows us or to 'let not our hearts be troubled'.  We have to decide whether we let the stuff o