The title must be 'Truth'

We do not need to have a title to be able to share the gospel. I have never understood why people are called 'The Reverend' or 'The Right Reverend', or 'The Most Reverend'.  Reverend means 'one who must be respected', and as a born again believer I believe that what, and Who, must be respected is the Word of God - Jesus. When I see people on the television with so called 'dog collars' on being called by these titles, I think 'Where does all this come from?, I do not see it as scriptural.'

I am reminded of 'class' in the community where people are judged by whether they are rich or poor, by their looks, their jobs and many other positions in life, and we must be very careful not to allow any of these titles to allow us to believe that it is only what specific people with high titles preach is TRUTH.  Sometimes the  TRUTH of the Word of God can be overlooked, and things allowed in congregations that are forbidden in scripture because the people 'in charge' have titles.  I am not saying that this is always the case, what I am saying is that what they preach is more important than their title.

There are two doves that come to my patio doors in my kitchen, it makes my husband laugh to see them and when he sees them he always says 'Brenda, your friends are outside'. The reason they come to look through into my kitchen is because I have been feeding them in the garden for months with suet balls that I buy for them.  They come for the food, no matter who gives it to them whether it be me or my husband. This to me is like an analogy of how we are fed, and feed in the Lord. That Word is the BREAD OF LIFE, and it is only that food that we  'eat' that enables us to grow in the Lord and have eternal life, no matter who is used to bring it. 

The finest example of God using 'ordinary' (yet not 'ordinary') people to spread His Word is Jesus ,Who came in the form of a carpenter, yet He was condemned by many of the 'religious' Pharisees, as in Luke ch. 5 v. 21  and Matthew ch. 12 . When we are born of God's Holy Spirit then we ALL become part of the body of Christ on earth, being brought to share whatever we are given by God to share. 
God forbid that I, or anyone,  should ever become like a religious Pharisee as I journey on to the promised land of eternal life.  I share this poem/ prayer regarding this - that I wrote many years ago.

Blind Pharisee

They didn't know You Jesus, nor recognised Your face
they couldn't see the wisdom, the power or the grace
They only saw a carpenter, a man of 'low degree'
Who said that God had sent Him to set the captives free
'Who is this man from Nazareth' they cried out in dismay 
'How dare he heal a withered hand, upon our Sabbath day'
They cared not that You healed the sick and caused the blind to see
You said You was the Son of God, so they shouted 'Blasphemy'
Why couldn't they believe Lord that God works through the poor
why did they let pride stop them from walking through the door
Lord don't let my pride stop me from receiving God's grace
let me see only Jesus shine from a brother's face
For if we judge another by what we see outside
we may not see the Father, and suffer for our pride
Thank You for Your Spirit Lord, the TRUTH that sets me free
Father keep me humble lest I become a Pharisee 

Lord take us to the prisoners

 My greatest desire since I have been born again of God's Holy Spirit is to spread the gospel to as many people as I can for the rest of my life. Although my friend and I spent many years evangelising in the streets with the leaflets and songs that the Lord had given us to share, and I love blogging, the reaching out to others who do not know the Lord still remains within my heart. I still have many leaflets, and laminated poems that speak of Jesus that I feel to give to people, but am not sure where this could be done.  When my friend and I were first brought together we always thought that we would have a cafe called 'The Lighthouse' where we would give these leaflets and poems out. This did not happen, and I ended up having a blog called 'Lighthouse vision ', yet I still feel that something is still in the future where the remainder of what has been given me to share amongst those who do not know Jesus will be shared. Please pray for me regarding this.

My friend and I also became prison visitors, something which we enjoyed doing very much, and just as we prayed for those physical prisoners I pray for those who are imprisoned in the spirit, that they would be set free from the darkness of this world and come to the light of our beautiful Lord. 

A PRAYER FOR THE PRISONERS

Lord have mercy on them all 

for they know not what they do

the perils of this world surrounding them 

are forbidding their vision of You

Turn their shadowy darkness to reflections of light

let them look on Your wonderful face

for there's no other Saviour can fight their fight

only Jesus - God's manifest grace

So have mercy great Master - reach down from Your throne

cause Your hand to unlock prison doors

for the captives are weary from fighting alone

they don't know that the battle is Yours

They don't know there's a warrior - a great mighty Lord

the One of Whom boldly we sing

they don't know this redeemer - with two edged sword

has the power to change everything

For they're locked in their prison of darkness and woe

powerless - unable to see

that the jailer is satan - a most cunning foe

who once had a power over me

So now send us dear Father with mercy and grace

out to rescue the injured and dying

close our eyes to what's written on worldly face

let our ears hear imprisoned souls crying

LORD TAKE US TO THE PRISONERS

Lord take us to the prisoners

Lord lead us to the ones that are bound

Lord take us to the weary

give rest to their souls - cause the lost to be found

Lord take us to the injured

Lord lead us to the ones that are lame

Lord take us to the helpless

give sight to the blind by the power in Your name

Lord take us to the thirsty

Lord lead us to the ones that are dry

Lord take us to the lost ones

and open our ears to their pitiful cry

I sing this song to my beautiful Saviour Jesus

You are my God, You are my King

You are my Prince of Peace - You are my everything

You have the power and the authority

to bring down each stronghold and principality

and I worship You - and I worship You

I worship You my Lord

You are the chosen One of the Great I AM

You are the Holy One - You are the risen Lamb

You are the Prince of Peace - the King of Kings

The One of Whom creation sings

and I worship You - and I worship You

I worship You my Lord

Fear or Trust?

Do we fear when trials come upon us, and if we do - what does our fear achieve? 

There are two scriptures that come to mind when I am going through a trial in the Lord:-

One is 'Job ch. 3 v.25  where Job said  'For what I fear comes upon me'.

The other is Proverbs ch. 3 v.5:- 'Trust in the Lord with all your heart and don't lean on your own understanding'

So do we allow that fear to cause us to not trust in the Word of God spoken to us, and hinder  us from believing and receiving?

Where does the 'fear' come from ? It comes from the spiritual enemy who tries to rob us of what God has in store for us by putting negative thoughts into our carnal minds when not everything goes how we want it to go, but takes a turn for what we would call 'the worse'. 
However, there are positive thoughts  that we have access to through the mind of Christ - the Word of God that will combat those negative thoughts if we take them captive and bring them into obedience to that Word.   The trials that we go through are there for a reason. James ch. 1 vs. 2 and 3 reads:- 'Consider it pure joy my brothers and sisters whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.' This is an ongoing message to all who are part of  the body of Christ on earth - the church.   Fear is the negative - Faith is the positive, the substance of things hoped for.

I share two small poems that I wrote years ago that I would hope encourage those who might be finding it very hard to endure their trials in the Lord.

To be just like Jesus

'Oh for an easy life' they say
'where nothing ever goes wrong'
That's what the world cries out for
but Lord it's not my song
For how would I ever learn patience
without tribulation and trial
or how could I ever endure hard times
yet still be able to smile
But I say 'Oh to be just like Jesus
to be like the One raised from the dead'
So I'll glory in my afflictions
while the power of God rests on my head



Do not worry, do not fear

Do not worry - do not fear
let your hearts be still
for who alone of mortal man
can always know God's will
But this we know - who worship Him
by faith shall live the just
for then we see the power of
the One in Whom we trust