Prov 4:23 "Above all else guard your heart for it is the wellspring of life"

"Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me" Yeah right!

Peoples' comments and judgements toward us hurt very much and hinder our walk with the Lord and with others, but the Lord would say this morning from Proverbs 4:23 to "guard our heart for it is the wellspring of life."

God judges very differently than man and we see in the story of 1 Samuel 16 where the Prophet Samuel is called to anoint a new King and in verses 6&7 "Samuel saw Eliab and thought, 'Surely the Lord's anointed stands here before the Lord'. But the Lord said to Samuel 'Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."
How quickly we judge by what we see and hear, but the Lord calls us not to do that, but to look at the heart.

Psalm 139:23-24 "Search me, O God and know my heart, test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting"
This has been and continues to be our journey with the Lord. One way the Lord has shown me over the past few years of the state of my heart, has been through dreams. I would have a dream that would show I was frightened in a situation, show that I was hurt by something or show some sort of attitude. In these dreams and the processing of these, he would show me the truth that needed to be there instead. For instance "His perfect love casts out all fear" so I would question, why was I afraid and then speak God's truth to the situation. If His perfect love casts out all fear then I needed a deeper revelation of His love for me and the truth of what the love looked like. If I was anxious about something then I would ask myself, 'why was I anxious?' 1 Peter 5:7 "Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you" so I would learn that I needed to give him the things I was anxious about trusting that he would look after those things as I surrendered them to him. Phil 4:6 "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus".

Prov 25:2 "It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of Kings. As the heavens are high and the earth is deep, so the hearts of kings are unsearchable".
We don't know the true state of our heart sometimes, but if we are willing to test out our hearts, then the Lord will show us. Sometimes like the verse above we need to search out what the Lord is trying to say. Dreams can be one way where the Lord is speaking to us in a way we can understand - like a parable - but then we need to search for the deeper hidden things; the gold. As I have searched out what the Lord has been saying and have been learning to speak the truth which sets me free into it, the Lord has brought greater and greater freedom into my life and especially from the mindsets and words that come from man.

Psalm 51:10-12 "Create in me a pure heart, O God and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me."

The Lord is wanting to take us from glory to glory and for that to happen we need to ask the prayer above - to be willing for the Lord to create in us a pure heart. Matt 5:8 "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God".

Obedience and Commitment are big things in Gods Kingdom

Reading in Acts 7 this morning the story through Stephen of Abraham being told by God to " Leave your country and your people and go the the land I will show you" So he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. After the death of his father, God sent him to this land where you are now living. He gave him no inheritance here, not even a foot of ground. But God promised him that he and his descendants after him would possess the land, even though at that time Abraham had no child." As I reflected on this and the journey of Abraham stepping out in faith into a land that he received no inheritance in but a promise of what was to come for his descendants of which we live in the fruit of that, I thought of todays generations in which often is only doing things that we want to do or that will benefit us personally as we live for 'today' not worrying about tomorrow. A sense of if it feels good then do it, if it doesn't then we will move on - perhap

6 legged sheep???

In the weekend I saw a vision of a sheep that had six legs. And what I believe the Lord is saying, there are many sheep, (followers of Christ), but they are trusting in their own strength and not in mine. When we trust in our own strength and abilities we forfeit the grace that can be ours, the enabling that comes from stepping out in faith in the impossible, the testimonies that give God the glory rather than the expectation of what should be because we have put our hand to something. God is the God of the impossible and in order for the miracles, the testimonies, we need to be a people that step out in what we can't do and allow God to come in and do the impossible. That may simply be asking the Lord to help you to forgive someone that has hurt you so much, to getting on a plane with no finances because the Lord has asked you to, to continue to stay in a job/church/marriage/relationship you don't want to because that is where God has placed you, to praying for a

The baby's been handed over

Several weeks ago the Lord shifted us out of the 'home office' into the 'market place' and in the process a spiritual shift happened - one of letting the 'baby' go, a releasing and handing over the batten, so to speak to others. In this process the nests that WE ALL have been in have been stirred up, shaken about, and pushed out, to fly in ways that perhaps we were too afraid to do previously. The amazing thing with God is that He knows the timing of all of this and where each one of us is at and what we can handle. Yes there has been a fluttering of wings in panic. Yes, we have had a few weeks of challenge as authority and structures get changed and challenged, frustrations coming to the fore, but love helps us overcome, love helps us to forgive, love helps us to see the good and not the dirt, love helps us remember our own failings and yet forgiveness and grace that the Lord has for me, that I can give to others, remembering it's the glory of G

Don't worry, you wont miss the bus.

Last night I had this dream and there were a bunch of people at my house and we all decided to go somewhere by bus. Because we had to lock up the house, Jim and I missed the bus, while the others managed to make it. I found myself getting a little frustrated with Jim as he seemed to be so slow in locking everything up. Jim & I got there just in time to see their bus drive away. We were left standing in the rain. But then the thinking came, its alright, we will just catch the next bus. Some of us may feel at times like we have missed our opportunity. That we have missed what The Lord would have us do, and in that we can get a little frustrated by people around us and even perhaps blame people for where things are at, at least I know I do at times. :) But I believe The Lord wants to encourage people today, including myself, that you don't need to worry, just rest and be at peace and you will soon get another opportunity. Like waiting for a bus at a bus stop, they come

Do you feel like you are being tossed around in the wind?

I believe there are some out there who feel like they are being tossed about from one thing to the other, not sure where they are heading or what they are believing for and this is a time when you just want to give up and walk away from the promises God has put inside of you. I want to encourage you to keep going and as it says in James 1:2 " Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." I know that sometimes you don't consider it all joy when you go through trials but believe me, it develops things in you that you will be grateful for if you don't give up and you will see fruit in your life and those around you should you learn to walk in patience and perseverance. These are times you don't want to be a lone sheep but instead get yourself around people of faith wh

Do you feel alone or discouraged today?

I was greatly encouraged this morning as I read 2 Timothy chapter 4. This chapter outlines some of Paul’s struggles and how people loved the world and followed their ways and in so doing caused much harm towards Paul and his ministry, but his hope remained in the Lord and His reward comes from Christ alone. Verse 10 “Demas has forsaken me” Verse 14 “Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm” People can come and go out of your life. People can cause trouble, but we are called as Christians to endure hardship as it says in 2 Timothy 2:3 “Endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a solider”. 2:10 “Therefore I endure all things for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.’ We go through many things in life, many challenges and it is easy to look to man, to get discouraged b

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