Be Still And Know

DSC_5939
So it’s a heavy day of just plain nothing but “All gone wrong” and everything seems so misshapen and outta sorts. Where’s the joy when the world’s in a mess and your world follows close behind in its messed up footsteps? The joy you knew yesterday took a nose-dive into the deep and it kinda seems like it’s gone forever. Here in this dreadful “now” moment, you’re emptied of even emotion and the pain of the heart can’t feel the hurt any more because it’s just too weary to feel any more. Where do you go when worries have numbed your spirit and hung your beautiful soul out to dry? Where is your refuge when your world hangs by a frazzled thread, and the thing you feared most has taken it’s position?

The Psalmist in Psalm 46: 1,2,3 tells us, “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though it’s waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.”

Beautiful soul, when all is lost, the Psalmist goes on to bring words of hope to the reader in verses 4 and 5, “There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the Holy Place where the Most High dwells. God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day….and on to verse 10, a quiet moment with God, When He whispers into your heart, “Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” He’s got it!

DSC_6319.jpg enhanced.jpg topaz

What comfort for your crumpled spirit, your broken world and your anxious heart! He’s got it! God is in charge and He will be exalted in the heavens and on the earth in your situation and in your circumstances if you rest “Still” in Him and know that He is sovereign over all. Rest your beautiful soul then today ~ You who are broken, and shattered in your brokenness! Just be still in Him.

❤ ❤ ❤

by Categories: Bible, Inspirational, Soul Fire 2 Comments

God’s Promise? Our Obedience?

DSC_2529

Deuteronomy 6: 4 , 5, 6
“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. And you must commit yourselves, wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today.”

The Israelites stood on the verge of the land God had promised to them. He was soon to bring into a land already established with large cities they had not built. Living accommodations, richly stocked with produce they had not grown and cisterns they had not dug ~ Verses 10 -13. They were not to forget their God in their land of plenty. They were not to allow their wealth to distract them from their God who rescued them from slavery in the land of Egypt. They were to fear Him and serve Him with wholehearted commitment. They were to commit to His commands wholeheartedly, for He alone and only He was worthy of their worship. They were to love Him with their heart, soul, mind and strength, or, their intellect, will, emotions and spiritual and physical being. They were to live, sleep, breathe and digest His commands as they talked of them, taught of them, slept on them, rose with them and wrote them over doorposts and on gates through the custom of the mezuzah attached to door frames of houses and buildings. When passing through the doorways they were to touch the mezuzah to show respect and dependence for the Scripture. They were about to prosper at the gracious hand of their God but not without their obedience to Him.

DSC_3027
January Frost 2011 059 softened
Where are we today? Some remote place where God seems distant and ungiving? Maybe a land of compromise? Maybe a land of plenty has distracted us from His gracious hand. On a scale of one to 10 where does your obedience fall? Peer through that opaque veil and catch a fresh glimpse of God once again. Try giving adoration to the only one worthy of your worship, and reestablish your priorities as you enter into your promised land to take possession of your fullness of life in Christ.

As true believers then, Let’s be challenged to stamp God’s commandments on our hearts in wholehearted commitment to our God, the only one worthy of our praise. Let’s be challenged today, to live lives of holiness as we strive to love Him with our whole selves: our intellect, will, emotions and our spiritual and physical being. He has promised abundant life in a spiritual land of plenty, and called us to a life of obedience, therefore, we must live, sleep, breathe, teach and digest His commands as we respect and depend on His Word for His promise of abundant life even amidst the difficulties. He didn’t promise a bed or roses, nor an easy life, but He did promise to guide us through the hard places and to bring us out of bondage into glorious light.

♥.•´¸.•*¨) ¸.•*¨)
(¸.•´ (¸.•´ .•´ ¸¸.•¨¯`• ♥k

by Categories: Bible, Inspirational, Soul FireTags: , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Position And Politics

DSC_0043 snowdrop innocence

Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.”.
Mark 9: 34, 35

Jesus had just announced His imminent death and wouldn’t you just know, His disciples argued over who would be the greatest in the Kingdom after Jesus was gone. Imagine that!! “Who would be the greatest”? The boss, the one in charge? Yeah, there they were already politicking for position, honor and glory while Jesus was present. Arrogant and rude for sure, but isn’t that the world’s way of thinking? Elbow your way through at all cost! It’s survival of the fittest in this world! Look out for me, myself and I. Look out for number one!

In the Kingdom of God it’s a reverse twist ~ a very different story as God’s economy runs contrary to that view. How often do we get it wrong? In the natural world, our arrogance believes that heightened stature is the crowning prize in life until Christ comes along and waves a flag of caution in our faces. He shows us that ‘our’ way up is really the fast way down! He tells us that it’s not the driver in the lead, speeding off to leave their mark that wins the Father’s praise, but rather the one who silently crawls into the back seat, or the one whose willing to cook the hotdogs in the stands who pleases Him the most. Where are you today? Fighting for position, undermining others to gain leadership or control? If so, you set yourself up for a huge fall, and like Humpty Dumpty, who sat proudly on the wall, you may end up with nothing to show for your effort but shattered shell. Of course as the rhyme goes we know that all the king’s horses and all the king’s men couldn’t put Humpty together again, but In God’s Kingdom and sovereign rule, we know that He is in the business of redeeming, reshaping, remolding, refining, renewing and making His people whole! If you find yourself in a position of failure and ruin know that God will restore you if you stop trying to be number one! Become the ‘least’ in your program, as God’ takes first place. Take your hands off and let Him do His work in your life, your marriage, your work, or your ministry. Let Him recycle your pain and failure and make it into something beautiful for His glory and His honour.

DSC_0010

Jesus came to “serve” not to be served. We, as His disciples are to follow His example and honor will follow. Let’s be challenged today to take the back seat as we encourage others along the way to make it to the top!
♥.•´¸.•*¨)<3 ¸.•*¨)
(¸.•´<3 (¸.•´ .•´ ¸¸.•¨¯`•<3 ♥k
❤ ❤ ❤

by Categories: Bible, Food for Thought, Inspirational, Soul FireTags: , , , , , , , , , 2 Comments

Will The Real Enemy Please Stand Up?


  • If only we could only grasp the fact and come to a full understanding that while in the heat of our battles our struggles with one another are not really with one another at all, but with the enemy himself in the unseen dimension of spiritual forces. In the middle of discouragements, anxieties, power struggles, deceptions, and all the horrendous battles we face, it’s the old enemy and deceiver who has gained a foothold and is doing all in his power to bind us in our strongholds of selfishness, pride, resentment, bitterness, anger, strife and unforgiveness. He knows how to render us ineffective and will target us in our weakest moment and at our weakest point. We must be on guard, alert to his strategies, ready to take our stand and stand our ground against him. It’s crucial to daily wrap ourselves in the full armor of God. To stand on God’s righteous Truth, grounded with peace, clothed and protected with the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation and God’s all powerful Word; the sword of the Spirit. Notice, there is nothing for our back. A good indication that we are not to run from the problem by protecting ourselves with lies or calling judgement on others. Rather, we are called to simply stand firm in God’s confidence, trust Him, make the right choices, do the right things, and watch Him deliver us into victory.

    Christ out-witted the strategy of the Prince of the power of the air, milked the serpent of his venom, out-thought the thinkers, out-fought the fighters, outclassed the mighty and asserted His universal Lordship. Jesus Christ is Lord; Sovereign and omnipotent. Ruler and King of Kings.

    12188035_913189018717963_3702845794048654681_o
    Let’s raise the banner of God’s sovereign majesty and fly His victorious flag, high for all to see…His victory is our victory! Let’s claim it for our lives for it’s through His victory that our marriages become stronger, our homes become happier, our families become more stable, our children more secure, our churches more spiritually alive and personal lives more solidly grounded, more mature in the faith. Put on that full armor before you face your day, remember His faithfulness and His promises and step out under God’s banner of victory!

    Ephesians 6: 10 – 13

    “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armour of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For we are not fighting against flesh and blood enemies but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand and after the battle you will still be standing firm.”.

    Psalm 91: 1, 2, 4a.
    “Those who live in the shelter of the Most High, will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. He alone is my refuge, my place of safety. His faithful promises are your armor of protection..”

    • by Categories: Bible, Food for Thought, Inspirational, Soul FireTags: , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment