Destruction

'Out of the depths I cry to you, Oh Lord; Oh Lord, hear my voice.
Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy.
If you, God, kept records on wrongdoings, who would stand a chance?
As it turns out, forgiveness is your habit.'
Psalm 130:1-4

We don't have to have our lives sorted before we approach God.  He accepts our position, He wants to hear the cry of our heart.

James 5:13-18

Are you hurting?  Pray.  Do you feel great?  Sing.  Are you sick?  Call the church leaders together to pray and anoint you with oil in the name of the Master.  Believing-prayer will heal you, and Jesus will put you on your feet. And if you've sinned, you'll be forgiven—healed inside and out.

Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed.  The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with.  Elijah, for instance, human just like us, prayed hard that it wouldn't rain, and it didn't not a drop for three and a half years.  Then he prayed that it would rain, and it did.  The showers came and everything started growing again.

'When things are hidden in the dark they can have a destructive power.  When we bring them to the light, we are set free.'  Something destroying you?  Talk to someone and bring it to the light.

Kicked around by the enemy?

Do you sometimes feel kicked around by the enemy?  Everything seems to be going wrong.  You seem to be losing.  You are experiencing the oppression of the enemy.  But victory rests with the Lord.
Psalm 129:1-4

TRUST GOD TO TURN THINGS AROUND

With trust comes peace and sleep.  'When you have accomplished you daily task, go to sleep in peace; God is awake.'  Victor Hugo.

You Gotta Have Faith!

Hebrews 11:1
Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see

Does the mountain move my faith or does my faith move the mountain?!

We are usually one of two ways when it comes to faith in God doing something for us.
1. IF you can do it God please do this.......
2. I KNOW you can God, but WILL you do it for me?

I tend to be the latter.  My head knowledge and past experience of God in my life tells me I know He can, but in this case I'm not sure He will because of this or because of that, I give God an escape route out of the situation so I don't get disappointed when it doesn't happen.  I can just blame it on the fact it wasn't the right time or something.

There is something in my life right now I want God to do.  I believe wholeheartedly God is saying: 'Not just yet, wait, be patient, it WILL happen.'  but there's a constant niggle saying: 'It's not ever going to happen, it could, but it won't'.  I'm trying to listen to God's word and block out the other but it's hard.  The whole world seems to be screaming: 'It's not ever going to happen'  and in the midst is the still small voice: 'Wait, and be still; know I AM God; patience.'

The solution?  How do we get real faith?
1. Immerse ourselves in God's word.  (which I've been missing over the last 3 months!)  immersing ourselves daily builds faith (Romans 10:17)  Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.
2. Act on God's word.  James 2:26 - Faith without deeds is dead.  Even the Devil believes IN God, he just doesn't act on that belief.

We need faith like Shadrack, Meshack, and Abendigo.  Go ahead and throw us into the fire, Our God WILL save us.

I remember a friend's post a week or so back:

'Maybe you are weary too? This morning I read Jeremiah 17:7 - 8 and rewrote it. 
Blessed are we who know that God won't let us down. Even though we are surrounded by desert wastes, God has planted us beside a stream that never dries out. We are tall and graceful like trees and know we never need to worry, because we are always protected, always fed, always fruitful. 
And may I add ...always loved.'